Re-calibrating
by UnCon
Summary: It's no lie that Tony Stark is an impulsive individual who never stops committing the same mistakes until a lesson is learned. This, like many others, is one of those instances. [AU, M/M]
1. Seven Year Itch

**This one is a bit shorter than my usual fics, so sorry if it seems a bit prorated.**

 **(Also, I don't own the Avengers or any Marvel property.)**

* * *

It came out of nowhere, the realization that something was missing. Tony looked around his room and on his person to pinpoint exactly what it was that felt so out of place. Yet he came up empty handed and even more confused than before. How do you find something you didn't know you had lost?

It was then that he knew, as soon as that kiss on the cheek was placed, or that loving goodbye, or the way they made love. It was gone, and he tried to ignore it, tried to ignore the constant nagging feeling in the back of his mind, because this isn't how it was supposed to go…no. We all knew that it would be Steve to go first.

So the weeks passed after his realization, he tried to find out exactly why he was feeling the way he was. They had been married for seven years and never once had the thought of divorce crossed his mind; until recently, he could have sworn that he was madly in love with Steve. He didn't tell anyone yet, he didn't think it was cause for alarm. Maybe it was that Seven Year Itch all married couples went through… maybe.

"Tony." Tony looked up from his papers and into the eyes of the man who had been plaguing his thoughts, but not in the way that he wanted. Steve seemed to have been standing there and calling Tony's name for quite some time.

"I'm sorry, did you need something?" Tony asked, placing his papers on the desk and giving his husband his undivided attention.

"You seem to be quite lost in thought, it's nothing bad is it?" Steve asked. The blonde always had had a great deal of intuition for his own good.

"No, no, of course not. Just thinking…" Tony trailed off and looked at his hands, the thought of feeling so empty scared him more than anything, he tried to pin-point the time when Steve's smile didn't make his heart skip a beat, when his voice didn't send shivers down his spine, when his touch stopped feeling warm and loving. Was he going insane?

"About what?" Steve pressed on, picking up a paper-weight and throwing it in the air as he waited for Tony's answer.

Was it the age difference? They were only six years apart, but could it be that Steve was still too young for him and he'd gotten bored… no that couldn't be it.

"Did you hear Happy and Pepper are getting a divorce?" Tony asked in order to take his mind off the subject of Steve.

"Yeah I did, so sad, I hope the kids will be alright." Steve said, oblivious to Tony's crisis. On his front, their relationship was stronger than ever.

"Has it ever crossed your mind that we…" Tony started to say but cut himself short. He couldn't even look at Steve properly.

At this the blonde placed the paper-weight down and looked directly at his disgruntled husband. "…might get a divorce?" He finished for him, his eye-brows coming together to create a confused scowl.

Tony didn't answer, but his silence was enough.

"Tony, if something happened… if-if you-

"No, it's nothing like that! You know I would never cheat on you!" Tony reassured quickly, probably a bit too quick, even though he was telling the truth. Great, now he had planted a seed of doubt in Steve's mind and God knows if the blonde would believe him or not.

"Then what is it?" Steve asked a bit rougher than he intended, he was starting to get worried for the health of their relationship, if Tony was contemplating divorce, what else had he kept hidden?

"I was just going to say… hypothetically, has it ever occurred to you that maybe we weren't the best match?" Tony asked, trying again to retain eye-contact but he was weak, he looked down to his clasped hands and nervously fingered the ring on his left instead. He could remember so clearly the vows they had made, yet right this second, they felt like empty promises—carrying as much weight as the air they were expelled into.

"Tony." Steve sighed, exasperated. He brought his hands over Tony's and forced his husband to look up. "What has gotten into you?"

"Do you still love me?" The billionaire asked, deadpan. He never meant for those words to come out, but they had and now he had a doe-eyed Steve staring back at him as if he'd spoken in tongues or grown a second head.

"Of course… why would you even ask such a thing?" Steve asked a little breathy, almost to the point where he sounded offended.

"Because… I-

The knock on the door was a blessing in disguise, he almost said something he might have regretted later.

"Come in."

"Oh Mr. Stark, I didn't know Mr. Rogers was here, if you're busy I'll come back later." The secretary said quite apologetically.

"No, it's nothing." Steve shot him a look that said otherwise. "What did you need?" Tony asked, ignoring the look.

"Just some signatures to okay the next project and…

Her words drifted off into the space around his ears but never quite making their way to them, he looked at his husband with a form of detachment he usually reserved for his experiments. It wasn't a question of looks, the man hadn't aged a day since twenty; it wasn't his personality, the man was as lovable as a puppy. So maybe it wasn't Steve's fault, but rather his. His heart imploded at the thought of losing his husband, but he couldn't find a reason for him to stay either.

* * *

"You seem to be in quite a bind." Bruce commented as Tony retold the past couple of months in a matter of hours. They were sitting by the bar in low-key section where they'd be rarely interrupted. Tony had wanted to tell someone, someone he could trust.

"Tell me about it." Tony said, taking a sip from his Rum and Coke. He hadn't had a drink in many months, Steve was against all that type of stuff, so for his sake, he sacrificed them, at least in the house; but at the moment, he needed something stronger than water. "I don't want to go home… can I crash at your place?" Tony asked.

"Dude, you know good and well that running from this is not gonna fix anything… besides, I have Clint at home." Bruce reprimanded.

"Come on, Clint loves me! Bruce, I can't… I can't face him right this second. I need some time to think properly." Tony said in his defense.

"Now see, that's the problem right there. Thinking is the one thing _you_ in particular should _not_ do." Bruce said pointing a finger to Tony's head. But he sighed and said "I'll be waiting in the car, don't be more than ten minutes or I'm leaving."

"I'll be right there, just let me pay for the drinks." Tony said searching for his wallet. As he laid the crisp twenty dollar bill on the counter the barkeep walked over. He had a messy black ponytail and too-blue eyes, he was handsome if not a bit cynical, and a lot taller than he looked from afar.

"I don't mean to pry, but you should try this number on the card… just in case." The tall man said, sliding a white card with nothing but some numbers and an unrecognizable name on the front of it.

Now normally Tony wasn't the one to pick up random stranger's business cards, but this wasn't 'normally' and he was willing to try anything once.

* * *

"Stark… I thought I wasn't supposed to see you until our high school reunion in twenty years." Clint said as he opened the door to his and Bruce's apartment.

"Blow me Clint."/"He's staying the night." Bruce and Tony said simultaneously, then Bruce turned around and scowled at Tony "And no, he's not blowing you."

"You know I'm just kidding." Tony said crashing on the couch and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, it was the next day and as he reached for his phone (which had been conveniently on silent) the card the strange man gave him fell out. He fingered the standard-issue business card trying to see if he recognized the name in the early morning light. No, it still didn't ring a bell.

He looked at the missed calls and messages on his phone. Ten missed calls and one text message, all from Steve. He should call… he should definitely call.

Then why didn't he?

* * *

Tony looked above his head to the sign that had the same strange name as the card. _Chronos_ ; he'd looked it up—it was the God of time, yet that didn't do anything to elucidate the meaning. He called it late last night, after crashing again on Bruce's couch. The call had gone straight to some automated voice message where it told him the address and time he should be meeting the mystery person inside the building.

Tony took a deep breath and stepped inside, he didn't like the uneasy feeling at the base of his stomach, but he ignored it and walked through the barrier anyways.

* * *

"Come in, come in. I have been expecting you." The mystery person called from way in the back of the shop. The little space was made even smaller by all the books, stacked in precarious positions, and random artifacts strewn about on the floor and in overflowing shelves. The bead curtain was an added effect to the "mystical and magical" world that he'd unexpectedly stepped foot in.

He recognized the man behind the desk as he approached him. It had been the same man behind the bar, this time his hair was let out and it flowed down his scalp and shoulders like many waves, crashing against the ocean floor, his eyes were green this time, instead of blue, and he appeared to be a lot paler than before, as if he were merely a reflection of the real thing.

"I hear you're having marriage issues." The man behind the desk said, getting to the point.

"How could you have possibly heard that?" Tony asked, taken aback by the sudden intrusion of privacy. He didn't think Bruce and he had been _that_ loud.

"That's why you're here isn't it, that's why you took the card?" The raven-haired man asked. tilting his head to the side.

"So it _was_ you who handed it to me?" Tony asked.

"Or another version of me." The man said. Tony had a feeling that the man enjoyed talking in riddles.

"I don't quite get your meaning." Tony confessed.

"The 'me' that you're seeing now and the one that you saw then are two very different 'me's', how can you be sure that the 'you' I'm seeing now is the same 'you' I saw then? Maybe there are different 'you's'?"

"Okay, I'm gonna go, I see that you and I are on two very different terms of 'reality.'" Tony said getting up to leave when he noticed that the entire layout of the room had changed.

"Not so fast there-

"Mr. Stark." Tony filled in from reflex rather than actually responding to the unasked question.

"Mr. Stark, I have a proposition for you, obviously you don't understand what I'm trying to say, and that's fine, very few people ever do. You, however, are in an emotional bind, you can't quite make out what's wrong. Am I getting close?" The man asked, clasping his long fingers on the table-top.

"I would say yes, but I feel like my answers have no merit in this place." Tony said, still on edge from the sudden shift in the room.

" _Au contraire,_ young Stark, there is power in your words and even more in your actions. Tell me, how did Steve take it to being called out on his feelings for you?"

"How do you-

"How about the twenty-three, scratch that, twenty-four missed calls on your phone? Are you not happy with your current 'you' Mr. Stark?" The green-eyed man asked, already knowing the answer but not wanting to spoil the fun.

Tony frantically checked his phone and noticed that the call had just ended leaving in its wake exactly twenty-four missed calls, calls that had been on silent.

"I don't know what sort of sick game you're playing, but I'm leaving—now!" Tony said, but was pushed back down on the chair by another man who looked exactly like the man in front of him.

"People are often afraid of what they don't know. It can be quite frightening to not know the outcome of your actions… sometimes it's too late to fix mistakes we've made."

"I _really_ don't understand what you're trying to say." Tony said exasperatedly and he normally knew everything.

"Young Stark, what if I told you I could rid you of your current problem, the whole turmoil in your heart, make it all _disappear._ " The green-eyed man said conspiratorially.

"You don't even know what that is." Tony replied.

"You wish you'd never married Steve, he was the love of your life once, but knowing now what you know of your current state, you'd rather not have troubled with the whole mess in the first place. You want to spare him the trouble of a messy divorce. You've stopped loving him, and you want to know why… you want to know if you ever truly loved him in the first place. Am I close?"

Tony didn't reply to that smug smile, he simply leaned back in his chair in utter defeat.

"All you have to do is say you want it fixed and it'll be done. Just know that once I make the change, it's irreversible." The man said cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"Why… why are you doing this, what's the catch?" Tony asked through clenched teeth.

"No catch, just know this, you can never return. You have the option of saying no now and leaving with no harm done to this timeline… or you can change your future, right here, right now, by saying yes. I believe every human deserves a do-over if they're not satisfied with their current outcome. Just one per customer, though, any more and I'd be tempting something bigger than you or I." The man said.

"What if I'm not happy with the change?" Tony asked, not foolish enough to believe that this would end well for him.

"Then remain in this one, you have two choices Tony, dating back to the moment Steve first proposed. Marry him or don't, it is up to you which to decide. If you no longer feel for him as you once did, this drastic measure will be nothing but an unpleasant stain in your memory and the seven years you've been married will be nothing but an unnecessarily long commercial break in the program of your life. Of course, if that _is_ what you want." Tony looked down at his phone, it was lighting up with another call from Steve. His husband must be so worried… he was gonna take that worry away.

"Yeah, okay. Fine, I don't know what it is that you're gonna do but do it." I'm sorry Steve.

"There, it's done."

"Wait, what?"

"Enjoy you're new life."

* * *

"Wait!" Tony gasped as he woke up in his bed, sweating and a bit disoriented. So it had been a dream then. But how did he get back to his place from Bruce's? Whatever, the whole dream had him shaking and he was morbidly aware of the terrible thing he'd done in it. Of course he wouldn't sacrifice seven years of a marriage _rationally_. He'd have to be out of his mind to do something like that.

"Steve you wouldn't believe-

Tony stopped talking as he realized Steve's side of the bed was empty, actually, it was more like no one had occupied that side of the bed for a long time.

He felt cold immediately, a strong sense of dread overcame his entire being as he bolted out of bed and ran into the main room of his house.

"Steve!" Tony called out frantically, his voice echoed in the hollow house and at that moment, when his ears rang from how silent it was, when the realization of his actions came crashing down on his head like a gavel, it was then that he knew he had fucked everything up.

And like the icing on the proverbial cake, there lay a singular card at his feet, Tony picked it up and crushed it in his hands seconds later.

It had read:

 _You're Welcome._

* * *

 **Well? How was it? Did you like it, is it too early to tell?**

 **Side note, some warnings before we continue; this is utterly and irrevocably a Stony. However, to further the plot, for quite some time it will be a Stucky. I am in no way/shape/form a Stucky fan,** _ **nevertheless**_ **, I will try my hardest not to ridicule the people who** _ **are**_ **by ridiculing the ship—no ship-hating from my part. The story is already complete (though it needs major revision) and I think I did the pairing (Stucky, I mean) justice. That being said, be prepared for interactions from both.**

 **Also, not to drag this out, but like I mentioned earlier, this fic will be quite short (30K). Because of that I hope that it doesn't feel rushed. Please, don't be afraid to point out things that could be improved; I am always open to honest and useful criticism. Other than that, enjoy!**

 **P.S. Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it very much.**


	2. What Have I Done?

**Hello there, quick note before you continue. Though I enjoy writing the characters as close to the actual thing as I possibly can, I am fallible and as such, I'd like you to take heed of this warning. These characters might be a bit OOC, some of it intentional, some of it lack of knowledge of the character. I also believe that experiences shape our future, so some of these characters might be much different in the beginning of this story than at the end.**

* * *

It was a comfort to see that Bruce's number was still the same. He called it, after two hours of deliberation. He was still under the assumption that this was just a dream—a horrible nightmare that would end soon. He'd looked through his entire house though, not a trace of Steve, not a single morsel of evidence to show that another human being had ever lived inside the apartment.

His hands shook with the thought of it, how… how could this be?

"Tony?"

"Bruce, oh thank god you answered!" Tony said, almost crying with relief. He nearly fainted with just how much his emotions were getting away from him.

"Yeah, hey… are you okay? You haven't called me in almost a year so uh, this is kind of out of the blue here." Bruce said a bit confused at the sudden call.

"I… I could have sworn I called you ye-yesterday?" Tony said not quite sure how to phrase it. Almost a year? Well it was a good thing the man hadn't changed his phone number during that time.

"It wasn't me, hey… I'm kinda' busy right now, Clint and I were in the middle of doing something so…" Bruce said, trying to get out of the awkward conversation as kindly as he could.

"Oh thank god, you're still with Clint." Tony sighed, quite relieved to find that most everything had stayed the same, in whatever reality or fantasy this was.

"Yes… hey are you sure you're alright? No one died or anything right?" Bruce asked, he was sure he would have heard about it if anything major had happened.

"No, no, I mean, at least I hope not… Hey, do you remember, by any chance, a Steve Rogers?" Tony asked trying to poke at _this_ Bruce's memories to see if they revealed anything.

"You mean the guy you left seven years ago? Yeah, I remember him. But I'm pretty sure you know him better than I do, seeing as he works for you and everything—or at least did at the time." Bruce said, shaking his head.

"Right, right, yeah, just making sure. Um, well I'll see you around or I guess I'll talk to you later. Sorry to bother you." Tony apologized, feeling the awkwardness grow as time stretched.

"Yeah, uh, talk to you later." Bruce hung-up then.

"Oh Christ, what have I done?" Tony lamented as he got ready for work that day. It was Monday again, at least the days had remained constant in this fucked-up world he'd dug himself into.

* * *

It had taken some time to muster the courage (two weeks, actually) and venture forth in finding Steve. Tony had to make sure that this hadn't been all a dream, that if he pinched himself enough times he would wake—but no, if pain was the answer then he probably wasn't supplying enough of it.

That Monday had him in a tizzy, as spent the whole morning trying to figure out the lay-out of his own company. There were so many floors and so many departments that he'd never truly taken the time to see them through. He remembered the tour they had gone on years ago, when they expanded and remodeled, but he couldn't have been bothered then to memorize every ounce of the information the tour had provided; he kinda' wishes he had now.

He, _finally_ , found the floor he was looking for: Graphic Design. Tony didn't even know there was a floor for that!

Some of the people recognized him as he stepped inside room. Most of them looked confused others intrigued. Tony tried to keep his cool as he approached the front desk, he took a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart; it didn't quite help as much as he'd liked it too.

He looked at the receptionist who recognized him instantly, if the look of shock on her face was any indication.

"Mr. Stark, what may we owe you the pleasure?" She asked, standing up as if he were royalty.

"Please, sit down, there's no need for that." Tony said, flattered, but otherwise a bit annoyed. He was only human for crying out-loud. (An extremely intelligent and handsome human being, but still.)

"Sorry, sorry, what is it that you would like Mr. Stark?" The receptionist said, her voice wavering a bit.

"Listen, I'm looking for a Steve Rogers?" Tony asked, his throat clogging up a bit at the mention of his husband's… he wasn't his husband anymore was he? He fingered the empty space on his ring finger, the first thing he had noticed was missing after his initial freak-out that first morning.

"Oh, what for? Do you have an appointment?" She asked, almost as a reflex.

"Do I have to?" Tony asked confused, I mean, this was _his_ company after-all.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, again. It's just a force of habit, he's right through those large double doors at the end of the hallway, should I tell him you're coming?" She asked, ready to press a button on her earpiece on his say-so.

"No, no. I'll just go in." Tony said, his entire frame shaking as he left the area and made it down the hall.

This was it, the moment he had been looking forward to since he fell through the fucking rabbit-hole that was this nightmare.

Tony saw him before he entered the room, he saw the blonde as if he had seen him yesterday (had it already been two weeks?). Steve was smiling as he worked, and boy was he working. There were probably a dozen people around him showing designs or concepts. Many of them were quite young and Tony was proud to see that they were rather a diverse group of people. There was another figure there that he recognized, he couldn't quite place his name, but he was as old as Steve; he knew that much.

Tony took another deep breath and pulled the double doors open.

"Now _this_ is what I like to see! All of you working together, it's beautiful!" Tony exclaimed extravagantly, showing off his best smile. The room went quiet instantly and then erupted in surprised cheering and laughter. But Tony wasn't really paying attention to the people surrounding him and asking him what he was doing here, no, he was too focused on that one singular figure close to the back (and his perpetual shadow). He felt it then, _felt_ the amount of time that actually transpired; seven years was a long _fucking_ time.

"What am I doing here? Can't your boss drop by for a surprise evaluation?" Tony asked the room.

"Of course you may, Mr. Stark." Steve said, the first he'd spoken since he saw Tony enter the room.

Steve was overcome by a certain emotion then, one that he couldn't quite place, he felt as if something was very wrong about this ordeal.

"Please, call me Tony." The billionaire said.

That pushed some of Steve's limits and the blonde left the room then. Tony thought of following suit but there were too many eyes on him.

"What's his problem?" He asked instead, pretending as if nothing was wrong, as if he didn't comprehend that the moment Steve looked at him he realized he'd done something incredibly stupid; so irreparable, in-fact, that the mere task of fixing it seemed impossible now.

Tony looked a little to the right when he noticed Steve's shadow looking at him, and not quite trying to hide it either.

"And you are?" Tony asked in that certain way he did when he wasn't quite interested to find out the answer but intrigued enough to ask.

"James Barnes. I don't work for you, I was just following my _husband_ to work today." James said. That's when Tony remembered… Bucky. He had to ask, he had to make sure that Barnes wasn't talking about Steve when he said husband, please, for the love of god don't let it be. Tony's heart couldn't take any more if that was the case.

"Where's your husband?" Tony asked, feigning ignorance.

"I believe he just walked out the door, so if you'll excuse me." Barnes said in a way that let Tony know Barnes knew _exactly_ what Tony had been to Steve. He exited the room there, looking for Steve.

"Mr. Stark, are you okay?" One of the kids asked him as he began to sway.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Um, you guys are doing excellent work, keep it up and don't make me come in here to find you slacking." Tony said and left the work room promptly.

ooOOoo

"Did you know?" Bucky asked Steve as he approached him. The blonde had made his way upstairs and to the roof of the building by the time Bucky found him.

"Of course I didn't know, Bucky, whatever you're thinking stop right there." Steve warned the brunette.

"See, I just find it strange that after seven years he just shows up out of the blue, unexpected." Bucky said, looking up at Steve.

"And you don't think I do? I haven't thought about that man in years! He just showed up Buck, I had nothing to do with it." Steve said, trying to get his husband to understand.

"Promise?" Bucky asked in that special way of his when he wanted Steve to indulge him.

"I promise." Steve said, cupping Bucky's face and placing a simple kiss on his lips, now wasn't the time for them to engage in publicly lewd behavior.

"Let's just get back to work, we'll deal with him when we get there." Steve sighed, holding out his hand for Bucky to hold it. He shook his head slightly from the creeping ghost that was Tony's gaze, it was the first time he'd seen him in a long time, but he'd never stopped hearing about him. He still wasn't quite sure why he'd never left the company when they'd broken it off. He could say it was because of the good pay and convenience but he'd be lying to himself. He really didn't know though, but he wasn't about to find out.

* * *

Thankfully for Steve, Tony hadn't been there when they returned and he could continue his work in peace, if he focused hard enough he could even forget Tony's look of shock and sadness when he'd entered the room, he could forget the way his eyes held an emotion he could only classify in the same category as pain. He wondered what had motivated Tony to come back into his life after so long. Tony had made it abundantly clear when he left that he didn't want anything else to do with Steve, so why return now?

"Steve, you're still thinking about it… about him." Bucky said as he placed one of his hands on top of Steve's to still his shaking. He hadn't even… Jesus, where was his mind right now?

"No, I'm not, it's just-

"Don't lie to me Rogers, I know that look. I spent almost four years trying to get rid of it and just by him waltzing in here it's returned. Tell me what's on your mind." Bucky said, waiting patiently for Steve to reply. Why did that bastard Stark have to come in and ruin such a perfect picture?

"It's just, I wanna know his motivation you know, why did he suddenly appear again? I swear to you Buck that I've heard neither heads nor tails about him. I couldn't have given him any sort of reason to see me, so why?" Steve asked himself more than anything.

"Maybe that's just the way he is, a volatile catalyst that appears out of nowhere; like a natural disaster." Bucky offered, with a bit of malice coating his voice.

In the years following the whole 'Tony left me' debacle, he'd worked insanely hard to get Steve to a better place both mentally and physically. And the proof of his work was right here—they'd been happily married for four years (coming July) and had almost everything going for them. They both had steady jobs that payed incredibly well, they spent their free time either visiting places like the Grand Canyon last fall or staying at home and reading. They'd even been thinking that maybe it was time to bring it all full circle and adopt a child.

He always knew, though, that he could never replace Tony Stark. He'd tried though, tried with every ounce of his being to be Steve's everything. It had always seemed worth it when the blonde kissed him or brought him unexpected gifts, (the best part was when Steve told him he loved him). Yet he knew, deep down in the corners of his mind where even he wouldn't admit it, that that was not enough. If he could go back in time and change history, he would—he'd sell his soul just to have a chance.

Bucky pushed his lips close to Steve's and kissed him then, with the desperation of dying man. He didn't know why, but for some reason today felt like the beginning of something he wasn't quite keen on.

"What was that for?" Steve asked with a small smile on his lips, it'd been a while since Bucky took initiative, he kinda' liked it. It burned a bright fire in the pit of his stomach.

"Me, focus on me." Bucky ordered, kissing Steve again. The brunette was happy to find that Steve was happy to oblige, kissing him deeper still until they were both out of breath.

"I adore you, you know that?" Steve said chasing after Bucky's lips, when the brunette pulled back.

"Adore? Don't you mean love?" Bucky asked, some of his insecurities resurfacing.

"That too, I love you so much Buck." Steve said not even acknowledging his slip-up. Bucky tried to keep that in mind, if Steve hadn't noticed then he most likely didn't do it on purpose. Then why did it feel as if everything was slowly starting to crumble?

He had to stop this train of thought before it killed him.

"I'm heading home now, I expect to see you there soon." Bucky said, putting some faith in his husband. This whole Stark situation really had him shaken up. He needed to get out of this funk, he knew Steve wouldn't betray his trust, he wasn't that type of person.

"Of course. I may be a little later though, these are brand new plans and they need a thorough look-over, I trust my kids, but they're still quite new to this, so." Steve said looking down at the papers in his hands, the designs looked good, but he could see where there could be improvements overall.

"Okay. I'll see you when I see you then." Bucky said, placing one last kiss on Steve's cheek before leaving the room.

Steve waited until he was absolutely sure Bucky was gone to finally breakdown in peace. Seven years, seven pain-filled years. He'd managed to slowly get over it, Tony had been his first after-all; he didn't think many people truly got over their first love. Bucky had helped so much, and sacrificed himself to make sure that Steve was cared for, looked after.

The change happened slowly, slow like the lava flow down a volcano, but he was able to finally stop thinking of Tony 24/7. He'd never really known how much Bucky had cared for him until that one night…

" _You can pretend I'm him if you'd like."_

Steve shook his head, no, he'd managed to get over Tony, at least that's what he kept telling himself, fake it 'til you make it right—so why these thoughts now?

But just like that, with one look... seven years of rebuilding his broken heart went to shit. It was no wonder Bucky was so worried for him. He knew the brunette was placing a lot of trust in him not to fuck this up, but he felt as if that may _not_ have been the best move on Bucky's part.

"Steve." For a second there Steve thought he'd imagined it, imagined that soft, pleading voice, imagined the way it used to laugh his name, or moan his name depending on the hour and the mood.

"What are you doing here Mr. Stark, I thought you'd be home by now. You don't seem like the type to stay back and work late." Steve said, not looking up to meet Tony's eyes; he'd break further if he did.

"Don't be like that, so formal. Call me Tony." Tony almost begged. He noticed how Steve actively avoided looking in his direction, it cut him deep.

"That won't be happening anytime soon, Mr. Stark." Steve said, moving the papers around and pretending to look at them. He hated how much Tony's mere presence affected him.

"Steve, please look at me." _I need to know what happened._ But Tony did beg this time; employing a voice he seldom used on his own Steve, which worked charms when he wanted it to.

It seemed to work on this Steve as well. The blonde was unable to keep his eyes on the same drafts for much longer, he looked up slowly in Tony's direction—narrowly avoiding eye contact.

"There, was that so hard?" Tony asked, trying his hardest not to break under the guise he was putting on. It was so hard not to take Steve's shoulders into his hands and shake him out of this nightmare of a situation. _Don't you remember, don't you remember me?_

Steve rolled his eyes and resumed his nervous paper shuffling. "What are you doing here?" Steve asked again, this time a bit calmer. Tony was just a person, not the superhuman he'd thought him to be once.

"I can't come over to say hi?" Tony asked trying his hardest to feign innocence, but failing miserably.

"Seven years Stark, seven years I haven't heard a _peep_ from you and suddenly you waltz into my office, interrupt my work and expect me to just think that a 'hi' is enough?" Steve exclaimed making Tony flinch in his chair.

"Er, technically it's _my_ office." Tony reminded kindly.

Steve shook his head and chuckled dryly. "Yeah, I suppose it is." Steve finally put the papers down and gave Tony his undivided attention. "What do you want?" Steve asked, almost in a whisper—he really wanted to know why Tony had shown up after almost a decade of radio silence.

"To talk… I need to know, what _happened_ between us?" Tony asked, it was probably not the best thing to do, but it was his only option. Only two people knew of what happened (three if you counted Barnes) and Tony was not one of them.

"What _happened_? Are you serious, is your memory that faulty that you can't even remember _that_?!" Steve cried almost in a shout, he balled his fists and closed his eyes, rubbing a hand down his face to calm the sudden urge to choke Tony.

"Please, I'm sorry… I." Tony couldn't finish, is this what he wanted? Did he really save Steve from suffering by choosing this path?

"You're doing well for yourself, I see you got married." Tony said after a little bit of thought.

"Yeah, and I should probably be talking to him instead of you." Steve said, reminding himself of that fact.

"I'm not stopping you, if you have somewhere to go, go." Tony said, giving Steve permission to leave, this wasn't his Steve, not anymore anyways he shouldn't keep him here if he had somewhere to be. Even if it hurt to watch him go.

"Do you think it's that easy? For me to just _leave_ , I haven't seen you in so long…" Steve admitted this piece of weakness.

"I'm sorry, I must have really fucked up your morning then." Tony said, almost unapologetically. He couldn't get over the fact that Steve still felt for him, even if just slightly; _this_ he could work with.

"Tony, please just go back where you came from. We were doing fine, _I_ was doing fine without you. If you go now, it'll be easier to forget any of this ever happened." Steve said, almost pleading with the billionaire to leave him be.

"You… you said my name." Tony replied sadly. The brunette looked down into his hands and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, for everything I did, I know I hurt you and that should have never happened. I don't do this apologizing thing very often, and I don't expect you to take it, but I hope that it will calm any storms that I may have started since my arrival into your space today. I'll leave now, but if you ever need me-

"I won't." Steve was quick to say.

"Of course." Tony said the tips of his lips coming up in a slight grimace. "Well, I'll just go then. Good luck with the design, you should amalgamate the last three and get rid of the first two." Tony said as an afterthought. The brunette left the room before Steve could say anything.

The blonde looked at the designs, finally paying them attention and noticed that Tony was quite right.

Steve wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, you've done it now Tony. How are you gonna fix this?**


	3. Brunette

**Slight Warning for the beginning of the chapter, there is some obligatory Stucky (shivers** **) so you have been forewarned. Skip ahead to the first line if you are so inclined.**

* * *

Steve made it home an hour later, after he'd processed all the designs, and begrudgingly accepted Tony's advice.

"Steve?" Bucky called from their bedroom, he was probably watching TV or reading one of his history books.

"Yeah, it's me." Steve said, taking his shoes off by the door. His husband walked out into the living area to meet Steve.

"Uff, you look like shit. How bad were the designs?" Bucky asked, he was wearing nothing but a large shirt and some very short shorts that didn't leave much to the imagination. Steve ogled him openly, knowing that Bucky loved it when he paid close attention to him.

"No, they weren't bad, it's just that I couldn't get the machine to work and you know how I am with technology, all the young kids went home already so I had to fend for myself." Steve said, it wasn't a blatant lie, the machine _had_ given him some trouble, it just wasn't the reason he looked so damn bad.

"Well, _I_ think you need to relax a bit." Bucky whispered into Steve's ear.

"Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?" Steve asked letting the brunette lead him towards the bedroom.

It didn't take long for the clothes to start flying off. On any regular day, Bucky would have taken his time with Steve, toyed with him a little and teased him until he finally gave in, but this wasn't one of those nights and this hadn't been a regular day.

Steve looked up into Bucky's blue-green eyes, as the smaller man rode him into kingdom-come. For a brief second another brunette was sat on top of him riding him at different intervals. A flash of panic crossed Steve's face and he quickly turned their positions so he was back on top. He buried his head in the crook of Bucky's neck, biting the area hard enough to elicit a slight moan of discomfort from the other man.

Tony had always liked it a little rougher—Stop! Don't do that, he's _not_ Tony!

"Steve, shit, what's gotten into you?" Bucky asked, out of breath; Steve wasn't normally this rough in bed, very rarely had he shown such strong signs of aggression, it kinda' reminded him of the time-

But he couldn't think much more as he was turned around and penetrated, this time he had to hang on for dear life on the bed frame as he was pushed ever-so-roughly into it.

"Hey, honey, I can't hold on much longer!" Bucky tried to warn Steve, to see if he could break through his husband's reverie.

And Bucky was right, both of them climaxed at around the same time out of breath and a bit unexpectedly.

Sex hadn't been that intense in a _long_ time, and Bucky had an idea who was at fault for the sudden change.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Steve?" Bucky asked a couple of minutes later when they'd calmed down enough to lay back on the bed and keep their breathing at a regular pace.

"No, why?" Steve asked, looking up into the ceiling.

"You were a little rougher than usual is all; I mean, I don't mind, but a little warning would have been nice." Bucky said, normally after something like this they would cuddle, but they were just lying there, looking up at the ceiling like it held the answers to their fucking dilemma.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" Steve was so lost, so, so lost; how could years of progress be undone in one instant?

"It's alright, we'll talk in the morning." Bucky said, turning his back to Steve. He wondered what his husband would do, would he try to comfort him or would he just turn away and dismiss him.

He didn't realize how cold the night could be when there was nothing but a back touching yours.

* * *

Tony went searching downtown for the spot he'd met Chronos; he had to fix this mess of a reality once and for all—he'd sell his soul if he had to.

The streets all seemed the blend together as he walked them, but he had memorized the address, and he knew he was approaching the building soon enough. He walked up the steps, very familiar, but nothing otherworldly like he'd felt the first time he'd stepped inside, and the sign was missing from the front, another anomaly in his ever expanding book.

"Hello sir, could I interest you in purchasing a book today?" A short old-lady, with snow-white hair and pale blue eyes, asked.

"Uh, this wasn't… this wasn't really the place I was looking for." Tony said getting ready to turn around and out of the bookstore.

"Oh, are you sure? We're meant to be where we're wanted, right, it seems that you ended up where you were going. With a purpose in mind, I could see it in your eyes as you walked in." The old lady said. The way she spoke… Tony shook his head, it was one thing to believe that alternate realities were a thing, it was another all together to believe that the man was actually an old woman. His skepticism wouldn't let him get past the first stop.

"Do you happen to have any books on Chronos?" Tony asked turning back around to face the older lady. Her eyes seemed to come to life as he mentioned the name.

"See, I knew you had a purpose for coming. I have just the thing here, _Myths and Fairytales_ , you should find what you're looking for there." The lady said, secure in her belief of the book.

"Okay, I'll trust you with this. How much?" Tony said, getting ready to pull out his wallet.

"This one is on the house, hopefully you'll find what you want in there. If not, come back here so I can see what else you might be missing." The old lady instructed.

"Will do, thank you so much." Tony said as he exited the shop.

With a renewed purpose, he set out to devote his entire workday to reading the book. So far he'd only managed to find out that Chronos was the God of Time, something he could have easily searched on the internet, he also had a tendency to talk in riddles and be in multiple places at the same time, tough that also added up to another God, the God of Mischief. Christianity calls him Satan while the myth book calls him Loki. Most of the time Chronos and Loki are confused for each other since one always emulates the other. From what he's seen so far, it seems that maybe _Chronos_ was actually Loki.

This was all too freaking much, he was an atheist for crying out loud. He believed in the things he created, not the things unseen. He closed the book and rubbed circles into his temples trying to calm the strong headache that had appeared halfway through his quest to find some answers.

He wondered if he had any relics from the past, anything that would trigger a butterfly effect. He started with his phone, he and Steve had taken many photos when they had been together. With Tony's unholy amount of money, they would often travel the world and take pictures in monumental sites: the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Vatican, the Colosseum, etc. (So he had a thing for Italy, could you really blame him?)

But as he looked through his saved files he couldn't find a trace of that past, sure he found the photos but it seemed as if Steve had been expertly photoshopped out. Only Tony and sometimes a handsome stranger, but never anyone he recognized, were with him. He looked in his wallet next, there was an array of photos but those were old: their first date, the first time they went to the lake, one where they were riding an elephant…

Tony wondered for the millionth time how he could have so easily given all of this up, all of it for some foolish assumption… all he'd had to do was see how Steve looked at him as if he didn't even recognize him and he knew, _instantly,_ that he had been irrational for thinking that he didn't love him anymore.

It hurt him on a level so far down that even he, master of introspect, couldn't make sense of it. All he wanted to do was see Steve again, but he'd already made a promise not to bother the man again. He was already taken, Barnes had gotten away with him and now…

When Steve had been his, Barnes had disappeared for a long time, he had flown up north, never even showed up to the wedding. Tony didn't quite understand what all of it had been about, but he supposed he knew now, Barnes had probably been pining after Steve for quite some time. In this incarnation of reality, Barnes had won, he'd claimed the prize after Tony fucked it up. The worst part, however, was that Tony couldn't recall the last seven years of _this_ life; it was as if Chronos or Loki had picked them up and dropped them off here, the only thing he did recall were his own memories, but those seemed so far away and lost to him now.

All he wanted were those memories to have been true, he wanted to take it back, take it all back.

But he highly doubted that Loki would listen.

* * *

It was exactly two and a half weeks before Tony cracked and went to see Steve again. The tipping point had been waking up repeatedly to a large and empty bed. He hadn't realized how cold it could get with only yourself around.

This time he was a bit more discreet about it, luckily this was one of the work-from-the-office type of days and the blonde was alone. Tony had done some snooping and found that Steve had managed to climb up the ranks and was now head of the GD department.

Steve had been one of Tony's first employees when he first took the company from his father's hands. In had come this bright, young blonde into his office demanding that he be given a chance. Tony should have probably done some more research on the boy at the time, how was he supposed to tell a sixteen and eighteen year old apart?

Anyways, he'd become infatuated with the blonde, he was so talented with his hands… so, so talented. Infatuation turned into fascination, which in turn, begot love. He'd been with the man nearly eleven years, married seven, and he had nothing to show for it but poor decision making and regret.

Steve didn't even look surprised when Tony stepped inside.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked, because it never seized to amaze him how different Tony's answers could be each time he asked that question.

"This is a nice office, I'm surprised your shadow isn't in one of these corners." Tony mused, ignoring the question, and traipsing his way across the room slowly.

"My shadow… you mean Bucky?" Steve asked, genuinely confused; he had forgotten how Tony liked to toy with words and twist them to suit his sarcasm.

"Yes, _Bucky_." Tony said, careful not to pour too much disgust into the name. If Steve caught wind of it he'd have Tony forcibly removed.

"He has a job you know, he was only there that day to help me launch the new designs." Steve said, finding it easier to talk with Tony when it concerned work.

"How are those coming, by the way?" Tony asked, finally making it to the guest chair facing directly in-front of Steve.

"They're on their way, my team is taking care of the major details, and I'll supervise the small ones… don't you have, oh you know, a company to run or something?" Steve asked a bit annoyed to see the brunette still lingering in his office. He knew it had been too good to believe when Tony promised to keep out of his life, he was impressed though, he lasted a week longer that he'd originally bet he would.

"I've made sure that it would be self-sustaining for quite some time, I'm really just a figurehead who signs all the checks." Tony joked. Not even chuckle.

"Well, unlike you Mr. Stark, I'm busy. I don't really have time to chat." Steve said hoping that that would dissuade the billionaire from continuing this conversation further.

"You mean with me, you really don't have time to chat with _me_." Tony corrected.

"I see you haven't changed much, not everything is about you Tony. But would it really be that hard to believe that maybe, yes, I don't want to chat with you?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes at the brunette.

"Well tough luck, I'm taking you to lunch right now so… let's go." Tony said, getting up from his chair, motioning for Steve to follow suit.

"I have work to do and besides, what makes you think I'll say yes?" Steve said incredulously, he hadn't budged an inch since Tony instructed him to; why would he? He had no intentions on going.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that; come on, my treat." Tony insisted, tapping his foot on the carpeted floor.

"Why?" Steve asked, he'd found himself using that one word a lot lately.

"Humor me?" Tony asked losing his bravado as time continued.

Steve wasn't quite sure why he got up from his desk and followed the brunette into the parking lot. He also wasn't sure why he stepped foot into the car and buckled in his seatbelt. He was quite sure, though, that if he were thinking straight he wouldn't be walking up the stairs of the restaurant to sit in the private area on the roof.

"Now, wasn't that easy?" Tony asked as he flipped through the menu. To be quite frank he wasn't particularly hungry right now, seeing as how he felt as if he'd swallowed a hornet's nest whole.

Steve didn't reply and looked for the most expensive entre he could find, just to spite the brunette. Not that it mattered, Tony could purchase everyone's meals, buy the restaurant, pay the staff, and it _still_ wouldn't put a dent in his bank account. I guess it was nice having all that money.

"Come on Steve, I'm trying to be civil here, please give me a chance. If you remember me at all you'll know that I'm having a difficult time being this sincere." Tony admitted. It was not that he wasn't an honest man, it was simply that he was a sarcastic bastard with a penchant to speak his mind and not really filter what was coming out. Sometimes it was genius and other times it was shit-spewingly bad, but he was willing to try if it meant Steve would talk to him.

"At least you're humble." Steve commented, dryly.

"Come on Steve, I know I did something stupid, boy you have _no_ idea how stupid. But if this is the punishment I really can't take it anymore. It's been almost two months and I can't seem to wake up." Tony said looking into the sky hoping desperately to find the answers in the clouds.

This took Steve by surprise, he wasn't quite sure what Tony was going on about, but he was curious now.

"What do you mean by 'almost two months?'" Steve asked, putting down his menu, he'd already made up his mind on what he wanted to eat.

Before Tony could reply, the waiter came by to take their orders, it was a quick jot of words and he was off again.

"Don't you remember, anything at all?" Tony asked, hoping to see if he could jog his memory. He wasn't quite sure how this whole time-shift worked, but he knew he couldn't be the only one with memories of what once was.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to remember." Steve said, his tone going dark. Tony noticed that he may have hit a raw nerve with that question. Tony had an idea then, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through the most recent pictures, the ones where he and Steve were supposed to be in together.

"Here, look. Don't you remember anything, Paris, Rome, Ireland, anything?" Tony asked, desperately. He wanted so much for Steve to remember a past that never happened to him.

"Okay, I have absolutely no idea what you're going on about and frankly I think you may be confusing me with someone else." Steve said a bit worried now. He did always find it odd how'd they'd suddenly broken it off. Well it was more like Tony broke it off and he never even saw it coming.

Tony fingered the empty space on his ring finger, a nervous tick that he had developed ever since he woke up. "Sorry, I… guess I must be confusing _something_ … I just… how have you been Steve, no bullshit this time." Tony said, putting his phone away and taking a deep breath. He did say he was trying to be civil, jogging memories that didn't exists didn't quite coincide with that.

"Fine, all things considered, it's getting to that time of the year where everyone needs to turn in their portfolios soon in order to find a viable candidate for the new design." Steve said. As soon as he'd finished talking the waiter returned with their food.

"So, busy?" Tony asked, taking a sip of his water. He would have gotten something stronger, but the last time he drank he changed the entire course of history, so he'd rather not.

"Yeah, pretty much, but it's a good busy. We're making a lot of progress and many of the kids I have are showing great potential." Steve said, he was actually smiling for once. It was nice to see that on his face.

"If they are half as good as you when you started then I trust they'll do well." And just like that, the smile was gone.

"Tony, could you just please stop bringing up the past? I don't know what has gotten into you lately, but whatever you think you're doing or accomplishing by taking me to lunch or having nonessential small talk needs to stop. I'm gonna ask you again, and please just stop dodging the question, why are you back?" Steve pleaded; his blue eyes were so bright and filled with confusion, it was hard for Tony to believe that this was the same man he was with for so long. They looked the same, but felt so different.

"Like I said, I made a big mistake. And I'm not quite sure I'll ever be able to fix it. You wouldn't care though, seeing as you've moved on." Tony said, angrily shoveling the food down his throat.

"Bucky is not a part of this, so leave him out." Steve warned the brunette. He was starting to realize that Tony was keeping something major from him, something that he should probably already know. "Are you okay Tony?" Steve asked noticing (after allowing himself the chance to) how pale and thin the other man had gotten. He remembered him so clearly sometimes, full of life and energy, always bouncing up and down the walls.

"Ha, I wish I knew. Mentally, I have no clue, but the Jury's always been out for that one. Physically, well, I haven't eaten anything properly for weeks, sleep—what sleep? The little I do consume I end up throwing up anyways so, I don't know. Make your own conclusions." Tony said, he really hadn't meant to reveal so much. He was so willing to tell Steve anything and everything, though, if it meant even a chance for the blonde to talk to him more, to pay attention to him. So maybe admitting his weaknesses wasn't such a bad idea if it meant Steve would stop looking at him with so much resentment.

"I'm no doctor, but it kinda' sounds like you're pregnant." Steve said, a half-smile blooming over his face. It had been a long time since he'd cracked such a bad joke; Bucky was normally the funny one.

"Ha, that's funny, really. I think I'd make a great single dad, I have the money." Tony mused glad to see that Steve was capable of making fun of him but not be bitter about it.

"It takes more than money to raise a child, though that does help." Steve reminded.

"I know, but I'm sure I could do it. Maybe I should, get my mind off things…" Tony said, he'd never thought of it before. Steve and he had been together for so long, but never once had it crossed his mind to adopt a child. He guessed it was too late to ponder the possibility.

"You should get yourself checked out before adopting something as important as a child. Or start with a dog." Steve cautioned. He and Bucky had thought about it before but both their schedules were too busy to try and crowbar building a family into it. Hopefully, when they were a little more financially secure, and they could purchase a house cash, then maybe.

"I recalled you used to love dogs, did you ever get one?" Tony asked, he knew Steve had told him to stop bringing up the past, but how else was he supposed to make conversation?

"Can't, Bucky's allergic. We thought of getting a cat, but our work kinda' gets in the way of things." Steve admitted.

"Are you saying I should give you more free time?" Tony teased.

"You're not really the one in charge of my schedule." Steve reminded.

"Right, but I'm sure they'd make some exceptions; really, if you need it, just ask." Tony said.

"I don't need it, we're fine. There are others who need it more than I do." Plus, Steve didn't want to seem as if he were mooching off the boss, people would start talking, and the last thing he needed were for people to make assumptions and for them to get back to Bucky. He was already worried that someone had seen him with Tony today.

They spent the duration of the meal in silence, there wasn't really much to say or, more aptly put, what they wanted to say wasn't appropriate to talk about in public.

ooOOoo

"Thank you for the food Tony, I very much appreciated the courtesy." Steve said as they neared his office.

"Anytime, though I'm guessing you want this to remain a onetime thing?" Tony said more than asked. He was really expecting Steve to acquiesce, say yes and be done with it, but the blonde hesitated, actually hesitated since this entire fiasco started, and that gave Tony hope that maybe all was not lost. If he could make Steve hesitate… he could make Steve do anything, then.

"Yeah, yeah, we should keep this a onetime thing. Thanks anyways." Steve wasn't quite sure why he'd stopped to think of the reply. Was his resolve breaking? Was he really that weak? Jesus, he needed to do something about it soon.

"Talk to you later then-

"Wait, Tony. I'm not quite sure what it is that you're doing or why you're doing it, but if you're not gonna go away, I can't force you. So, I think it's best if we bury the hatchet along with all the bad blood we had. When you left, I was distraught, but it's been a long time since then and I kinda' feel like moving on would be best. I'm not saying we should start over, I'm just saying that I won't send you away if you come my way again." Steve said. What the hell was he doing?! He was opening himself up for more of Tony's manipulations, why had he said all that?!

Tony, on the other hand, was shell-shocked. He had _not_ expected Steve to be so civil so quickly. He could have sworn the blonde hated his guts, hated him so much so that he'd rather Tony not exist than have to see him ever again. But this, this was totally different, and so unexpected; a little bit of hope flourished in his chest but he stamped it down as quickly as he could, no need for that. Tony tried not to look too smug as he nodded in agreement to what Steve said.

"Yeah, that's cool. I'm glad we can see eye-to-eye on this. For once, anyways. Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be in my office if you need me." Tony said, aiming for nonchalance but verging on hopeful, nevertheless.

"Yeah, see you." Steve said walking away from the brunette.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, well, well. It seems that a way through a man's heart is through his stomach.**


	4. Mean What You Say, Please

Steve walked into his office, surprised to find his husband there looking a bit annoyed mixed with worried. He carried with him a large bag with a logo on it that Steve instantly recognized, on any other day he would have been ecstatic to see Bucky, since he rarely took a lunch-break to visit him. But, of course, today had to be the day he did.

"There you are, I was starting to wonder where you went. Mindy at the front desk said she hadn't seen you step out." Bucky said, in a mock accusatory tone.

"Oh, sorry I was just… Bucky look—I just came back from a lunch break so, I'm not really hungry right now." Steve said, apologetically.

"Oh, I see. Well, no use wasting this. I'll just keep it in my fridge and save it for leftovers when you get home." Bucky said; the disappointment in his voice clear as the blue sky up above.

"I hope you weren't waiting long." Steve said, conveniently omitting who he had been with for the length of time Bucky had been here.

"No, just about half an hour, I take it you were gone longer than that?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, about—Steve looked at his watch to find that he'd been gone with Tony upwards of about—two hours?" He was so surprised, it had felt like so much shorter, they must have been talking for quite some time.

"Oh, I didn't know you had such a flexible lunch break." Bucky said, a bit curtly.

"Hey, hey, watch the hostility. The place was a bit far away, I had to take the cab." Steve said, trying to placate his husband. He was starting to notice that Bucky had become quite suspicious, he couldn't blame him really; he'd be suspicious too if his husband's ex came back unexpected. Especially with the history all three of them had had at one moment or another.

"I see, I'll just be leaving now, wouldn't want to get in the middle of your work." Bucky said, taking the food back with him.

"Wait, Buck, don't I get a kiss?" Steve asked, slightly pouting his lips. Bucky wanted to say no, deprive Steve of that one gift for standing him up. But it wasn't really Steve's fault right, he hadn't called ahead of time, he was just hoping to surprise him with the gift of food, but Steve had had other plans today and who was he to control Steve's every move? Bucky had to watch himself before this irrational jealousy got out of hand. He understood now why some people (mainly women) went crazy with worry. Jealousy was like a sticky, ugly goop that adhered to your mind and didn't let go for dear life.

"Of course, here." Bucky said, leaning his head back to get a small kiss.

"I'll see you at home." Steve said, afterwards, going back to sit in his chair.

"Unless you decide to sleep in a hotel instead." Bucky teased, he smiled to let Steve know he was joking. But was he?

"Hey, don't hold it against me. Had I known you were coming I would have waited for you, you know that." Steve defended.

"I know, I have to go though, before I'm late for my own work." Bucky said, exiting the room.

Just like Bucky couldn't really blame Steve for leaving him, Steve couldn't blame Tony for taking him. It wasn't as if the man had supernatural powers and could have guessed that his husband was gonna show up the exact time they had left. That would be ridiculous. But part of him still blamed Tony, he was still the root cause for the certain tension building up between him and Bucky, a tension that was neither healthy nor wanted.

So Steve worked, late into the night, until he was sure all other persons were gone and he could take a deep breath without feeling eyes on him at every turn.

In a moment of insanity, he looked to the phone on his left, the extension was right there: 0352 = Stark, Tony. As the head of his department he had certain privileges to extensions that other employees didn't, that meant he could talk to the head boss directly without having to wade through other people or numbers.

He'd seen the numbers so many times, knew the name associated with it, but never really paid attention to it until now.

Why was he picking up the phone?

His hands seemed to operate on their own as he pushed the four buttons. What was he expecting from this phone call?

"If you're calling to tell me about the fucking R and D malfunction I already took care of it, it's not my damn fault you imbeciles don't know your right from your left!" Tony exclaimed through the receiver.

"Jesus, no wonder those techs are so scared of you." Steve said, he hadn't heard Tony that frustrated in a long time.

"Steve? What… how did you get this number?" Tony asked, it was nice to have the upper hand when it came to taking someone by surprise.

"I'm the head of my department, remember? I'm pretty much one of the many 'second-in commands' you have at this company." Steve reminded. He propped his legs on top of the table, he normally wouldn't do this, but he had no one to tell him otherwise, so why not?

"Yeah, I really need to check into that, too many people have this extension. I should be able to work in relative peace and not have to worry how many immature sons of bitches have direct access to me." Tony said, venting a bit of his frustration through the receiver.

"That bad? Maybe you should communicate by email, you could address more people that way." Steve suggested. What was he doing? This wasn't what he should spend the rest of his shift doing, he should be packing up his remaining projects and bringing them home, where his husband was waiting for him with the left overs. _Not_ talking to Tony on the phone.

"Look at you, Mr. Tech savvy. You seem to forget that I pretty much invented the system that runs your computer, I _know_ how to use email. The reason I still have a phone is for emergency calls. But when a million people have the same emergency, bottlenecking the important from the not gets a bit difficult. Not that it matters, that's none of your business anyway, you're halfway across the building." Tony reminded. Which made him wonder, why Steve had called in the first place.

"I see… hey, what are you doing after work?" Steve asked. Okay, that's it, who replaced his reason with insanity?

Tony perked up immediately. "Oh, why do you ask, are we gonna rob a bank?" Tony asked, conspiratorially.

"No, it's just, we should get together one of these nights maybe have a few drinks, get back in touch." Steve said, every word that came out of his mouth surprised him, how was he not back home already?

"Really, you drink Rogers?" Tony asked, finding that more surprising than anything else he'd said in that entire sentence.

"No, but I remember you liked to." Steve admitted.

"Bury the hatchet right? I'm actually not doing anything in the foreseeable future. Just research actually." Tony said, as he looked down at the myth book. He hadn't gone back to the store, but this unexpected phone call gave him an idea.

"What are you researching?" Steve asked, curious.

"How about I show you, stay put, I'll be there in a couple of minutes." Tony said, hanging up the phone before Steve could protest.

Well he'd done it now right? Is this what he wanted, to see Tony again? How stupid could he be? He should just tell the billionaire to forget about it when he arrived. But he wouldn't would he, he'd sit there, like the idiot he was, listening to Tony talk about his research.

Why though, when he had Bucky waiting for him at the house?

Tony didn't give him much room to think about it in the end, as the brunette burst into his office ten minutes later.

"Jesus Christ, I should really invest in getting one of those Segway things." Tony said as he entered the room, almost out of breath.

"Or maybe you should exercise more." Steve suggested, putting his feet back down on the ground.

"Thanks, but no thanks, mom. I'd rather not." Tony said as he approached the desk with a giant book in his hands.

"Is that your research?" Steve asked, sitting up in his chair.

"Yes, I picked up a habit recently." Tony said pushing the book closer to Steve so the blonde could look at the title.

"Mythology? I didn't take you for a person who liked fairy tales." Steve said, leafing through the book. It was old but in great condition, leather binding, browning pages, and the illustrations almost felt hand-drawn rather than printed. As a man who dedicated his entire work to designing logos, pamphlets, books, etc. this was something to appreciate.

"Where did you get this?" Steve asked.

"That's what I'm here for, you asked if I was busy and I said no. So let me take you to the bookstore." Tony asked; it was such a strange sentence, as if the bookstore were code for something else.

"Um, I really didn't mean tonight. Bucky and I have things planned already." Steve said, just now remembering that he had a husband who was waiting for him _with the leftovers_.

"Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, he sounds more like your parole officer than your husband. Come on, it's just a couple of minutes away, shorter if we drive. It's a bookstore, you can buy him something there if he enjoys that sort of stuff." Tony said, rolling his eyes at the mention of Barnes's name. Jesus, if only Loki would have told him that _this_ would have been the outcome of his decision…

"Well, he does enjoy reading old history books." Steve said, providing some insight into Bucky's personality.

"What a drag, but who am I to judge, I'm the one reading fairy tales." Tony said. Picking up the book and carrying it delicately. He'd made some more progress on figuring out who Loki was, yet he felt as if he was missing some vital information; the lady had told him to visit her again if he ever felt the need to, so he was taking her up on that offer.

"Okay, fine then. Let me pack up and I'll meet you by the stairs." Steve said, shutting down his computer.

"Great, don't take too long." Tony said, a bit too giddy at the prospect of getting to be with Steve again.

Steve shook his head, he looked around his office, his eyes stopping by a photo of him and Bucky. It had been taken during the eve of their wedding, as they were cutting the cake. He had been so happy then, he still is…

He looked down at one of the many drawers he had on his desk. He went to the last one and unlocked it. There it was, as if it had happened yesterday.

Steve picked up the tiny blue box; he'd saved so many paychecks for that ring… He knew that Tony could have easily bought something better, but he also knew that the brunette would have appreciated anything Steve would have given him; but still, the blonde wanted to impress him. He'd been so young when he first met Tony, sixteen actually; he'd lied about his age, knowing full well that the company would never hire him if they knew. Tony was twenty-two, a young entrepreneur with his daddy's inheritance, and twice the wit. He should have kept to himself, not pursued anything, but Tony was too alluring to pass up. He'd taken Steve up under his wing, giving him a chance when all the others ridiculed him…

They dated in secret for four years as Tony was worried the media would label him a pedophile for sleeping with a sixteen-year-old, they finally made it public when Steve was twenty, two years later he proposed and then—

Well, we all know what happened then.

He closed the drawer again and locked it. Steve always wondered why he had never thrown the ring away like he promised Bucky he would, true he could have returned it ages ago, but at the time he was much too hurt and way too embarrassed to do so. He would have never proposed to Bucky using it and so… time passed and he still kept it, the constant reminder. He had forgotten of its existence until that moment in the restaurant when Tony kept touching the space on his ring finger, as if it were missing something. He thought nothing of it until he noticed it, over and over, like a nervous tick.

But he had to stop thinking about the past like that. Tony had been the one to… if he regrets it now it's not Steve's fault; he had moved on a long time ago. Bucky and he had been married going on four years now. He wasn't willing to give that up on the off chance that—

"Steve, I thought I said we were going to the bookstore." Tony said, startling Steve out of his reverie. "Woah, sorry. I didn't know you were lost in thought." Tony apologized when he noticed how stunned Steve looked.

"Yeah, sorry. It's nothing." Steve lied, of course it was something! It was his whole life flashing over and over behind his lids every time he blinked! It was every choice he'd ever made up to the point when Tony walked into the board room and made himself known in that extravagant way he always did. It was the fact that from that moment forward he couldn't stop thinking about him! How was any of _this_ nothing?!

"You sure the bookstore is open this late?" Steve asked, trying to calm the turmoil in his head. Everything seemed to be breaking apart, very few things felt solid at the moment.

"I hope so, if not, we'll have to find something else to entertain ourselves with. I'm sure we'll find something in this grand city of New York." Tony promised, he was so excited that he almost overlooked Steve's look of utter dismay. Almost.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not gonna kidnap you or anything. It's just a quick trip to the bookstore. I'll drop you back home if that's alright with your Bucky." Tony said, trying to alleviate some of Steve's stress.

Steve on the other hand said nothing. He wished he could stop asking himself the same questions, it was starting to get repetitive. But, why?

* * *

Tony hadn't been kidding when he said the place had been near, not even ten minutes later and the brunette parked the car.

"Here we are, it's that green door over there." Tony motioned to it with his free hand, the other held the large book tightly.

They exited the car and made their way upstairs. The blonde fallowed a little behind since he wasn't the one interested in the store. Steve was surprised to find that the store (more like a house with many, many shelves of books) was still open for business.

"Oh sir, you have returned, I had a funny feeling you would. How was the book?" The little old lady asked, slowly making her way to the counter. "I see you've brought a gentleman with you." She noticed, placing her bifocals on her face to take a better look at the both of them. A sly smile (a little jarring on her otherwise elderly face) encapsulated her features. Her blue eyes lit up again as she looked between the two and the book.

"Let me guess, you're missing information on Chronos and you—she turned her attention to Steve—are looking for a history book." She said, turning her back on them to retrieve the items.

"That's a pretty good guess lady." Steve said in total awe (and a little bit of fear).

"She has a way with words." Tony said. "Actually, I've switched my search to that of Loki, the God of Mischief, if you have anything on him that'd be great." Tony amended.

"Oh, do I have? He's my favorite God, I have many books on him. But I think I know just the one for you." The old lady said, her smile had returned to normal and both Steve and Tony were subconsciously thankful for that.

"Great." Tony said, getting closer to the counter.

"This is quite the collection of antiques you have here." Steve said, looking around at all the leather-bound books, the small trinkets, glass figurines, etc.

"Oh, I explored many places when I was younger, I'm too old to do much of that now, but at least I still carry my souvenirs." The lady said a bit solemnly. She looked at Tony then, her eyes holding some form of knowledge that Tony was sure he had never revealed. "Trade ya'." She said, pushing the book towards him. He placed the larger one on the counter and picked the smaller one up. It had a nice green cover with golden initials at the bottom-right corner: L.O.

"Did this belong to someone?" Tony asked, fingering the letters.

"Not that I recall, many of these books are older than you and I combined. It could have potentially belonged to many people before you. But it's in your hands now, and that's what matters." She said, whispering the last part.

"I really don't feel comfortable taking your books for free, I do have the money to pay you." Tony said, insisting.

"Money does nothing for me my dear boy, I'm simply content to know that you're learning." The lady said; Tony had never noticed this before, but she had a slight English accent.

"Okay, if you say so." Tony acquiesced, holding the book closely.

"And you young man, I found a book suitable enough for your spouse." The lady said, never once taking her eyes off Tony.

"Er, he's not my husband." Steve clarified, taking out his wallet. The old lady narrowed her eyes and harrumphed. "I know what I said young man, don't sass me."

"How much?" Steve said, feeling incredibly awkward, maybe the lady was going senile and seeing things and patterns that weren't there, he couldn't fault her for that if that was the case.

"Yours is on the house too. I hope he enjoys it." The lady said, getting ready to leave the front of the shop and return to her place in the back.

"Wait, what is your name? I can't keep thinking of you as 'the old lady from the bookstore'." Tony asked.

"You may call me Laura." She said. "Now shoo, I have kittens to feed."

ooOOoo

"So where do you live?" Tony asked as they entered his car. He was ready to put the address into the GPS and head out as soon as Steve wanted to.

"Tony, that woman… she's a bit creepy don't you think?" Steve asked, ignoring Tony's query, he wasn't ready to go home just yet.

"Respect your elders Mr. Rogers, she's not just a _woman_ , her name is Laura." Tony chastised, though he did have to agree that many things didn't add up with her.

"I mean, I've never seen her before yet she knew immediately why I went there." Steve continued as if Tony had never spoken.

"Maybe you just look like a history buff, what with your middle-school teacher attire. Don't I pay you better than that? And now that I think about it, aren't you gay? You should be able to dress yourself better than that!" Tony exclaimed, a bit disappointed in Steve.

"That's a stupid stereotype that makes absolutely no sense, and I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sure I look fine." Steve said, crossing his arms and ignoring Tony's jibes.

"Right, I forget some of us don't have much of fashion sense. It's too bad it's so late that we couldn't go to the store and get you a make-over." Tony said, his voice on the verge of sadness. "Anyways, tell me where you live so I can drop you off."

Steve shook his head and gave Tony his address. The brunette typed it in and put the car in drive.

ooOOoo

"You can drop me off about a block away." Steve said as they approached his home.

"Right… wouldn't want Warden Bucky to be suspicious." Tony mocked putting a spooky tone on _suspicious_.

"Do you blame him? You suddenly appear out of thin air with no preamble or just cause and you expect him to keep calm about this?" Steve asked.

"I guess I can't… but I can't help that I still exist. It wasn't as if I disappeared for those seven years." Tony said, hoping that that sentence would incite a response from Steve that would elucidate his own hazy memory (or lack thereof).

"You might as well have." Steve murmured.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked, confused.

"I really don't want to get into it tonight." Steve said, unbuckling his seatbelt as they approached his apartment.

"No, tell me, I want to know what you mean by that." Tony insisted, putting the car in park but leaving the ignition on.

Steve sighed and turned to look Tony fully in the eye.

"Not a call or text, not even an email. You leave and basically go silent for almost a decade, I would have… I would have come looking for you, but you had made it abundantly clear that you wanted nothing from me, nothing at all. And here you are again, as if nothing happened." Steve said, somewhat accusatory.

"What did I say?" Tony asked, he wished he could recall, but this wasn't his life, this wasn't the reality he lived for that stretch of time. He couldn't conjure up even a scrap of memory to save him from looking like a complete and utter asshole.

"You really don't remember? I guess you say so much shit in your line of work that you can't be bothered to remember the uglier parts right?" Steve said, shaking his head and fumbling with the lock to exit the car.

"Please, it's not like that, I… I just can't recall exactly what I said, or did, but I know it was bad. Bad enough that you… and he-

But Tony couldn't finish his sentence, the blonde had pushed himself and his lips on his own. Tony was so surprised he didn't know how to respond but by sitting there with his mouth agape. Something in him slowly realized that he should do something and so he reciprocated, closing his eyes and molding his lips around Steve's as if they'd never left, as if this whole scenario was just a horrible play that life was broadcasting and soon the curtains would fall and he would wake up with Steve in his proper home.

Steve didn't know what had overcome him. Maybe it was the way that Tony sounded so broken, as if something about their situation was seriously messed up. Or maybe it was the way he spoke in riddles as if he was trying to admit that he'd never meant the words he'd said, never even remembered saying them. And it hit Steve again, how _odd_ it had been at the time, how Tony had looked so happy one instance and the next, as if by possession, he was reciting the instructions on how to break Steve' heart. This, right here, was the culmination of all that confusion; he suddenly knew that this story couldn't have played out any other way. Since the moment Tony appeared back into his life he knew they would end up here.

He was so weak.

He kissed Tony even deeper, drowning his sorrows on that tongue and mouth, with his hands tugging and pulling at his short brown locks. Much shorter than Bucky's… Bucky!

That did it. He pulled himself abruptly from the kiss, so much so that Tony had to brace himself before he fell face-first into the gear-shift.

Steve pretty much launched himself out of the car in his attempt to escape his infidelity, but it was no use. The brunette's taste was all over his mouth, his cologne was probably all over his clothes too. Jesus Christ, what had he done?!

"Steve, I'm so-

"No! Don't… don't…" Steve warned, practically running from the car and to his apartment.

"Shit!" Tony cursed, punching the steering wheel in the process.

He pulled into the street and rode home half in panic and the other half… well, he probably shouldn't be smiling in such a situation.

* * *

 **A/N: Ooooh, Steve, bad boy ;)**


	5. Fragmented Memory

Steve stopped by the public bathroom before he went upstairs to his apartment. He couldn't face Bucky yet, not like this.

He stared at himself in the mirror, the shame of what he'd done evidenced all over his face. His lips were swollen and red, his eyes were dilated, even in the bright light, and he smelled of him. How close had they gotten to each other? How long were they kissing in order for him to feel so disheveled?

Steve shook his head, hating how much his heart still raced. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself. He started to fix his appearance by splashing some water on his heated face. He removed his shirt, thankful that he always wore an undershirt; lessons that his mother had taught him from very early on. He combed his hair over to one side, knowing full well that some of it would still stick up in random places.

He really couldn't do much about his swollen lips but hope that he wouldn't be put under too much scrutiny; he could always hide it by pretending to bite his lips or smack them around so they weren't the focus of Bucky's attention. God, Bucky… he didn't deserve this. Not any of it.

He was already trying to think of lies to tell him for being so late. _The work-flow was shifted, we had an impromptu meeting, I was making out with my ex in his car two yards away from our home, etc._

Well, at least the last one wasn't a lie.

Steve took the long way, hoping that by the time he got there he had calmed down. It felt as if he were ascending the steps to his doom. It would all be so much better if Bucky were asleep, if he was asleep then Steve could hop into the shower and wash himself from the smell of Tony. He could pretend as if everything was okay, which it was! He hadn't done anything but kiss the man… he really wasn't planning on going beyond that.

It seemed as if someone or something was listening to his pleas because as he went inside he could tell immediately that Bucky was asleep. In the case where one of them would arrive home late the other would always leave on one ambient light so they could make their way around the house without disturbing the other.

Steve removed his shoes and put them down, it wasn't until he was halfway to his room that he realized he had left the book in his hurry to get out of Tony's car. He cursed softly, shaking his head and forgetting about it. Maybe it was better that way, he'd have less things to lie about in the morning.

He snuck his way through their bedroom, opening the drawers as slowly as he could and pulling out his undergarments for his sleepwear.

He made it into the bathroom and thought twice about burning his clothing, but stopped short when he realized that would be stupid of him. So he simply drenched the shirts with some of Bucky's cologne (since he personally didn't wear any) and pushed it into a deep corner of the hamper. He stepped into the shower letting the events of the night flow down the drain as quickly as the water did.

He couldn't say he regretted it, he could say he felt sorry, he could say that he wished it never happened, but because it _did_ he couldn't regret it. It had felt so damn _right_ to kiss Tony again, to hold his face in his hands, to know that he still tasted the same after all this time. All the days he'd spent pretending that everything was alright showed just how much he had been lying to himself, and (unfortunately) to Bucky, when they kissed.

Tony still lingered on his tongue, driving him mad with pent up lust, and aggression, and hate. He _hated_ Tony for returning into his life, for stirring shit up that had finally settled. With just a look he'd forsaken his vows and threw his morals out the window. He felt so guilty, but he didn't _regret it_. And that fact made him feel even more like the piece of shit husband that he was. That, and the fact that he was jerking off to the thought of doing it again. How had this happened?

"God damn it." Steve swore as he turned the faucet off and dried himself with the towel. He should tell Bucky, tell him he'd relapsed. Because if he didn't and he found out from someone else, Steve knew that his husband would never forgive him.

He dried his head and put the towel away, getting dressed for bed as quickly as he could. He brushed his teeth thoroughly though, wanting to get the taste of Tony out of his mouth as quickly as he could.

The mint may have overtaken his taste-buds but the taste was still there, he wasn't quite sure if it would ever leave, not for a while anyways. It was just like back then too, everything had reminded him of Tony, even the fucking lightbulb in their shared apartment had reminded him of Tony. It was the first step Bucky made him take: get rid of the apartment, get rid of everything. In the end he didn't though, he still carried the memories, clear as day, and the ring, the ring that he had promised Bucky he threw into the river, was still sitting innocently and unharmed in the bottom drawer of his desk.

He shut the light off and crawled into bed.

"Steve, is that you?" Bucky asked, startling Steve where he lay.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry I was so late, we got swamped at work." Steve said, lying through his teeth.

"No, no, s'fine, I ended up giving the food to my co-workers since I didn't want it to spoil by the time I… got home." Bucky said, yawning through his sentence.

"Oh, well at least it didn't go to waste." Steve said. Having completely forgotten about the food Buck had tried to give him earlier. Was all of that really just a couple hours ago? Today had been so long in his eyes.

"I was thinking that tomorrow, we could go visit the Empire State Building. We haven't done something fun in a while and some of my colleagues were talking about it." Bucky said, trying to wake up enough to hold a discernable conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds like fun." Steve said pulling his husband into his arms. He didn't feel as if he deserved to do something like that. He felt so unworthy of Bucky's love, so disgusted with himself, even after the shower.

He placed a small peck into the space where Bucky's neck met his shoulder.

"Go to sleep for now, we'll talk about it later." Steve promised.

* * *

Tony woke up the next morning more refreshed than he had been since the whole time/reality-shift happened. He could only attribute it to last night's adventurous escapades with Steve—AKA the kiss.

Really he shouldn't feel so accomplished since he had nothing to do with it, it had been all Steve after all. He thought twice of calling the blonde, but he realized that he needed time to pass before he spoke to him again, and even more before they saw each other. Though he did have the book Steve had accidentally left behind in his car. So maybe he could use that as an excuse to see him again?

But no, he wouldn't, no yet; besides, Tony had a business meeting today. He and his colleagues were meeting for brunch then heading out to the ESB to have a field trip (Tony's treat) and then they would sign the papers at Stark Industries.

He really had quite the busy day ahead of him, which was good, all things considered.

* * *

The drive to the large skyscraper was a quiet one, the radio drudged on with the news and music for the day while Bucky drove them. Steve would have offered to drive, but Bucky knew the roads better than Steve did, so he wasn't about to take any unnecessary risks.

They made their way to the building, cutting the long line that had already formed simply because they had bought their tickets online. Some of the customers looked at them with something akin to envy, though it wasn't necessarily Steve's fault that he had prepared for the trip much better than they had.

They'd been to the Building many times before, but Bucky always stopped in each floor to appreciate the history of how the building came to be. He probably had the boards, detailing the construction, memorized to the last period.

Steve didn't mind, it let him take a chance to look at the architectural plans; he didn't care much for the history, but the blueprints always fascinated him. Such a feat of engineering for the time, still is if you think about it.

"Let's take a picture with King Kong!" Bucky proposed. Maybe it was the atmosphere or the excitement of being so high up, but Bucky had a certain tendency to turn into a tourist when they went on outings such as these.

"We always take a picture with King Kong." Steve pointed out, he didn't mind, but how many pictures with the gorilla could you take?

"Exactly, let's keep the tradition sacred." Bucky said, positioning himself next to the beast. Steve rolled his eyes and acquiesced.

As they approached the 86th floor Steve had sworn he heard the voice of a certain someone he was trying to avoid like the plague. There were too many people to make sure if he had or hadn't so he just chose to ignore it and get into the elevator.

"Is he always so damn good at messing up a perfect day?" Bucky asked as they exited the elevator. So Steve _hadn't_ been imagining things. Out of all the people, Bucky could pick out the bane of their existence with nothing more than a glance.

"Let's just ignore him, he hasn't seen us yet and, if we're discreet, we can keep it that way." Steve said, pulling Bucky into the opposite direction.

"We don't have to hide, this is a public place, plus—we paid good money for our time here and I'm not gonna let someone like Tony Stark ruin that." Bucky said, pulling his arm out of Steve's grip.

"Okay, have it your way." Steve said, trying to feign nonchalance, but he felt so naked and exposed. He didn't want to deal with his problems just yet, he knew that once Tony found out they were here he would try to say something. Thankfully it looked as if the billionaire was busy occupying other billionaires.

It was just by chance that Tony looked up then, he had been waving his hand in the air the way he normally did when he was explaining himself and his head had turned slightly to the left where both Steve and Bucky stood, staring at him. One with a pissed off look on his face and the other with panic in his eyes.

Tony really didn't want to stir the shit, but at the same time he kinda' felt a bit naughty after last night. Besides, all in good fun.

"Ah, Steve, Barnes, what a surprise." Tony said with a bright smile.

And here we go.

Tony walked over to the two so they weren't so far apart, the small group he had with him followed suit.

"Gentleman, I'd like to introduce you to Steve Rogers, he's the head of our GD department, AKA the reason we look so good." Tony introduced. He turned his eyes to Barnes and begrudgingly introduced him as well. "And his husband, James Barnes."

Barnes waved and Steve shook the hands of the rich-men.

"It seems that we all woke up with an Empire State in mind." Tony commented. The smug billionaires laughed at the punny joke while Steve and Barnes rolled their eyes. Tony knew it was a stupid joke, but it had been so easy to make that he could not have simply passed up the opportunity.

"Well, it was nice seeing you two gentlemen again, but if you'll excuse us." Tony said, sparing Steve anymore awkwardness. It had been kinda' bad of him to put the man on the spot like that. The brunette walked away, continuing whatever conversation he had been having previously.

Bucky was actually surprised at how smoothly that had gone; Steve was just about to faint.

"He's still an asshole." Bucky commented after he'd gotten over his shock.

"Yeah, well tell me something I don't know, come on. Let's get closer to the edge." Steve said after he'd gotten over his momentary fear, of course Tony wouldn't try to pull anything, especially not in front of people he was trying to impress.

This soothed his fears some and he was able to go about looking at the City of New York in all its random splendor. It was quite the view, really put everything in perspective. If he looked hard enough, he could see his workplace from here.

He kept looking back though, noticing that even amongst all the people Tony would sometimes find him and retain eye-contact for a couple of seconds before looking away.

Steve turned back around every time, but he couldn't help himself from looking back again, looking back at that smug smile and those pearly whites that followed soon after…

"Hey Buck, we should go before it gets any later." Steve suggested. He'd had enough of New York for the day, they could always come back, maybe earlier to avoid running into trouble again.

"Yeah, right, of course." Bucky said taking his final photo of the view. It always managed to take his breath away, it was absolutely beautiful. But, everything had to come to an end, even the view.

"Do you want a souvenir?" Bucky asked as they exited through the gift shop.

"No, you're the one who wants it." Steve said knowing full well that his husband was a sucker for knickknacks.

"You know me so well." Bucky replied picking up another mug with his name on it, his first name anyways. There weren't many 'Buchanans' in the world for it to warrant a name on a mug.

They paid for it, leaving the building. This time Steve drove, hoping that the drive home would be a calm one.

"All things considered, I think that was a great trip. We really should get out of the house more often." Bucky said, tapping his fingers on his newly acquired mug.

"Mm, hmm." Steve hummed distractedly. He just couldn't get over the fact that he still hadn't mustered up the courage to tell Bucky what he had done. Was he really so scared of his husband's temper? He was sure Bucky would be quick to forgive him if he told him he was genuinely sorry.

"Steve, come one, you're gonna have to do better than 'mm, hmm.' I think the idea of staying home and reading a good book is wonderful and all, but sometimes we have to leave, you know, become cultured." Bucky said, borrowing some words from one of his friends.

Which reminded Steve about the book he had forgotten to give Bucky. He wondered if it would have been a good gift, if the brunette would have appreciated it just like he appreciated everything else Steve did for him. "Since when is being cultured our top priority? I don't think I could do all that high-society crap you were into when we were teenagers." Steve admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with having a little taste for the finer things." Bucky said, holding up his chin with pride.

"Really? We can't afford the finer things, they tend to run expensive." Steve reminded.

"If I want to spend two extra dollars on the name-brand cereal then I will, god-damn it!" Bucky retorted like a spoiled kid.

That made Steve smile. This was nice, them just conversing like everything was fine, like he wasn't currently fermenting from the inside as his rotten core expanded.

"But seriously, other than that slight mishap with Stark, I think today was a ton of fun." Bucky said, sincerely. He was only partly joking about the 'getting cultured' proposal, he knew he and Steve were both quite simple, with basic interest, and not really much time for anything else. He boxed and read books in his off time and Steve painted, but that was pretty much it for their hobbies. He'd never admit this, but they were kinda boring, which was fine. Boring meant that neither of them had to get in trouble, it meant that everything would _be_ fine.

Even if that wasn't the case.

* * *

 **A/N: Nothing too exiting in this chapter, I guess we may be leading up to something... maybe.**


	6. Dangerous Game

The next morning, Steve walked up the executive staircase that lead straight to his side of the office without the use of the front door. He sometimes wanted to remain anonymous and uninterrupted as he made certain headway on his work. That, and he didn't want to have the misfortune of running into a certain _someone_ today.

His luck had run out, however, when at the top of the staircase the brunette stood, tapping his foot impatiently and looking at his watch.

For a moment Steve thought of turning around and going through the front door, but it was futile now, the brunette had already turned to look at him.

"I thought you were never going to show." Tony said as a form of greeting. The blonde simply looked at Tony, not acknowledging his words.

"I'm not even going to ask what you're doing here." Steve sighed, walking the remainder of the steps so that they were now face to face. "Or how you knew I would come through this staircase, for that matter."

"You don't have to, I really don't have another reason but that I wanted to see you again." Tony admitted, treading slowly. Steve was like a time bomb, if he pushed too many buttons at once he might just explode in his face.

"Well you saw me, now if you'll excuse me-

"Steve—Tony called, grabbing his arm in order to stop him from moving away—don't be so cold." Tony begged, he was developing a bad habit for doing that lately, but it worked, it always worked on Steve.

"What else do you want me to be?" Steve asked, his skin tingling where Tony held him.

"Why did you do that?" Tony asked as a reply.

"You're gonna have to be a little bit more specific than that." Steve said, though he was a hundred percent sure of what Tony was about to say.

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me, did I force you into it? I'm trying to understand why you would suddenly kiss me like that, like you hadn't been able to breathe properly for a long time and now-

"You know the thing that pisses me off the most about you is that you're quite full of yourself. It's as if everything I have ever done is because _you've_ allowed it to happen." Steve snapped, turning to fully face Tony.

The brunette was speechless. Is that how he really came across? Was he really that far up his own ass?

"I really didn't mean for it to come out like that." Tony said, trying to apologize.

"Oh cut the crap, you knew damn well why you came up these stairs; you're playing a dangerous game, Tony, and I'm not quite sure you know what you're getting yourself into." Steve said, a manic sort of venom taking over his tone.

"Is that a threat, Rogers?" Tony asked, lowering his eyes.

"Well it sure as hell wasn't a promise." Steve said. Throughout their conversation they'd slowly been inching closer and closer until Tony's back was now pressed firmly up against the wall and Steve barely gave him room to breathe.

"You left the book in my car." Tony whispered into the short distance their faces had created.

"Screw the book." Steve murmured, dipping his face low and getting a hungry mouthful of whatever the billionaire was willing to give. Lucky for him, Tony was feeling quite charitable that morning.

There it was again, that sweet uncoiling effect Tony's lips had on his nerves, he seemed to relax into the kiss as he deepened it, his muscles becoming more sluggish the further down he went. The effort to keep up the act of nonchalance was weighing down on him at both fronts, and frankly, he was sick and tired of pretending not to want this.

He wanted so badly to forget any of this was happening though, to return to his regular life with this just being a dirty stain of his past, a stain that didn't detract from the fabric, but couldn't be used in public either. The more he thought about it, though, the harder he brought Tony's lips into his, snaking his hands around the brunette's waist and pulling him into his body as well.

Tony hummed and moaned in the back of his throat, completely in approval to whatever was going on currently. His breath came in small bursts and it was getting harder to stand on his feet.

"Holy shit you're hard." Tony swore, his entire blood supply heading southward when he felt Steve push against himself. Lust clouded his entire mind like a thick cloud, his frame shook with unused energy, and he hoped that Steve's lack of effort to remove himself from Tony meant that they would take it one step further. Even if they were in the staircase.

"You are too." Steve pointed out, his cheeks going a bit red from embarrassment. He hadn't meant to get so exited so quickly, but when Tony moved his mouth the way he did, he really couldn't help it.

"I never said I wasn't… maybe we should, eh, _take care of it_." Tony said suggestively raising his eyebrows.

That must have been the last straw for Steve because he forcibly removed himself from Tony, untangling their limbs, and trying to regain some semblance of composure. "Tony, no. I- _we_ shouldn't be doing this." Steve said, rubbing his forehead to alleviate the pressure that had started.

"And why not? It's obvious you want this, want me." Tony said, moving away from the wall and trying to penetrate Steve's hard shell.

"There you go again. You're fucking full of it, you know that?" Steve said, getting to the point where he wasn't even watching his language anymore.

The sudden shift in mood took Tony by surprise, he hadn't really seen Steve that angry before. He felt like apologizing, but had an idea that that would do more harm than good.

"Whatever, it's not like you're gonna change overnight." Steve said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down. He couldn't walk into the office like this, not yet anyways.

"Steve, at least-at least let me finish you off." Tony said, his cheeks going bright red. He hadn't realized how embarrassing that sounded until the words had already left his lips.

"What? No, no, no, no." Steve said quickly, shaking his head rapidly and almost furiously. There was no way in _hell_ he was letting Tony near his dick. That man had a wicked mouth, and that didn't only mean that he could talk shit…

"C'mon, why not? It's my fault right, besides, I'm not asking for anything in return." With just stepping forwards, Tony had managed to get Steve to back himself into the wall. Their roles were now reversed and Steve was begging for anything at all to happen just then.

"I said no Tony." But he didn't sound very convincing, as his body responded readily to Tony's ministrations.

Tony had missed this, missed the risky business that dealing with Steve meant. It was one of the reasons he had gotten involved with the blonde in the first place. He recalled a similar scenario, years ago when they were first dating; the idea, that at any moment, someone could walk through that door… He better work fast then.

Steve inhaled sharply when Tony cupped him through his pants. He was now fully erect again, not that it had taken much time in the first place.

Tony slowly got on his knees, wondering (offhandedly) how dirty the floors were and if they would leave a noticeable mark on his grey slacks. The brunette continued, slowly unbuckling Steve's belt, looking up as he did so, his brown eyes almost black with how wide his pupils had gotten.

"Tony, please stop." Steve said, a pained expression encapsulating his features as his morals fought a losing battle with his desire.

"If you really wanted me to, you'd push me away." Tony said, but stopped nonetheless. Sure, the blonde looked ready to burst with just a couple more tugs, but Tony wouldn't push him if he really didn't want to. He wasn't that type of person.

He still didn't get up from his spot on the floor though, but he did remove his hands from Steve's belt.

The blonde cracked then, his resolve melting like ice in the oven. He wanted so much to move away from the wall, to extract himself from the situation and pretend this didn't happen. But with Tony, kneeling there, waiting for him to patiently make up his mind, he had no other choice but to comply with his body's demands. Even if it was just this once.

"Mm, just make it quick." Steve said, looking away from Tony and that smug smile that erupted on his face when he said those words. It almost made him want to take those it back, ah, _almost_.

Tony, on the other hand was ecstatic, he resumed his work, diligently unzipping the blonde's pants and admiring the big surprise that he found there. "What's the fun in that?" Tony replied to Steve's comment as he pulled down the blonde's trousers and boxers and brought the second object of his affection to his lips.

If they weren't in a public environment, Steve would have moaned a lot louder than he did. That was so _hot_. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the brunette for too long, and now they were glued to the top of his head, bobbing in-and-out-and-in-and-out...

Tony looked up then, those eyes penetrating the back of Steve's mind and finding that pent up lust, black like tar, oozing out of it.

The brunette smiled then and Steve swore he saw horns coming out of the top of his scalp when he did so. Evil, smug, _oh god,_ bastard. He really couldn't keep himself composed for much longer, not when Tony kept sucking him like that.

" _Shit_ , Tony, I'm gonna come." Steve warned, trying to grab the wall behind him, but finding it impossible.

"Mm-hmm?" Tony asked. He meant so say 'so soon' but, as you can see, he has his mouth full.

" _Tony_ I said I was going to-

But the brunette wasn't listening. He'd heard the blond loud and clear, he knew what he doing; you didn't have to tell him twice. He happily swallowed every drop until Steve became uber-sensitive and begged him to stop in quick successions.

"Ah, there you are. You should be able to return to work now, without that little inconvenience." Tony said as he licked his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He had some business to take care of himself so he had to leave soon before it got any worse.

Steve buckled his pants, too embarrassed to say anything. He couldn't really look the brunette in the eye right now.

"You okay? It was just a-

"Don't say it. Please, don't say it." Steve said, balling his hands to keep himself from shaking.

"Am I really that rusty? I didn't think it was that bad." Tony said, only half-joking. When his own Steve and he had the time to have fun, Steve would always be the one to… well, you know… Tony's always wanted to protests, but by the time he got a chance, they were already done.

" _What?_ " Steve asked like the uneducated idiot he currently felt as.

"Am I that rust-

"I _heard_ what you said. Jeez, you never cease to amaze me." Steve said, not necessarily as a compliment. Steve took a moment to look at Tony then, the man was just as disheveled as he felt, even if he tried to hide it behind that smug mask of his. His clothing was all over the place, his lips bruised and red, the two dark spots on his knees the only stains on his otherwise impeccable clothing, and he still needed some work done—if you catch my drift.

Steve narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm going now." He said, brusquely removing himself from the wall.

"C'mon, some feedback would be nice. Did I use too much teeth, how about my technique, was it too arhythmical-

"Could you stop talking about it?" Steve asked, a bit prudish about the whole thing. Truth be told, he hadn't had a blowjob like that in years. Bucky… Bucky didn't do that sort of thing very often, only on special occasions, like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. He had a great hand-technique though!

"What? Is it too much for your little innocent brain to handle?" Tony asked, mocking him slightly.

Steve didn't feel like gracing that comment with a response. "I'm going back to work." Steve said instead.

"Not even a kiss, you're a heartless lover you know that Rogers?" Tony said in mock hurt as Steve tried to make it to the door.

The blonde sighed and ignored the comment altogether, it wouldn't do him well to instigate this thing further. He went through the door, not looking back to the brunette to see if he was following or not.

"Well then." Tony said a bit in disbelief. He was now finally alone to assess the situation and he didn't quite like what he found there. He needed to take care of a _little_ problem first, though.

ooOOoo

Maybe it had been a little risky to do it in the back seat of his car, but the windows were tinted, and he needed relief instantly.

Eventually he made it back to his office in one piece. His mind still hazy from the events of earlier that morning. As Tony leafed through the green book, he found that he couldn't really focus on the words on the page.

"Steve Rogers speaking." Steve said as he answered the phone. He was currently on phase two of the designs and he could use a little break. He'd been able to push the whole Tony thing to the back of his mind, but it crept up now and again.

"Hey Stevie, what are you doing?" Tony asked innocently, as if he hadn't called with the intention of messing with the blonde.

"What do you want now?" Steve asked, sighing in defeat. Well, there went the last two hours of his concentration for the night.

"I would have imagined that after a service like that, you'd be a bit more relaxed. But anyways, I've analyzed all aspects of my technique and performance and can't find any noticeable flaws." Tony said, always the intelligible tormenter.

"Jesus Christ Tony, can you drop it? It was fine, _okay_ , it was fine. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Steve said, frustrated to the point of disbelief.

"Just _fine_?" Tony asked, an impish smile crowding his already smug face.

"I'm hanging up now." Steve said, giving the brunette three seconds to stop him

"No, wait. I still have your book from the other day." Tony said, biting Steve's bait.

"Then get one of your runners to bring it over." Steve said. He was a bit tired of this beating around the bush, he just wanted the brunette to leave him alone, but the more he wished that, the more he knew that would never happen.

"No, I'd rather you come and get it yourself." Tony said, regaining the upper hand.

"Well, I'm not going over there." Steve said adamantly. He should just hang up the phone and be done with the conversation, forget the book existed in the first place.

"Aw, did I scare you that badly?" Tony asked, teasing the blonde.

"I'm not afraid of you Tony." Steve said bravely.

"Then come and get it, big boy." Tony hummed into the receiver.

If Steve looked further into the meaning of that phrase, and he really shouldn't but, he would find that Tony wasn't probably talking about the book.

"Night, Tony." Steve said, putting the phone down on the receiver. He had enough of Tony's shenanigans, enough he couldn't get the brunette out of his mind, now this…

"Steve-" Tony said, but was instantly cut off. Damn.

* * *

The blonde returned to his home, fairly unscathed. He half expected for Tony to burst into his office thirty times the remainder of his shift. But for tonight, it had seemed as if he'd won this battle.

Bucky was actually awake this time, he sat on the couch watching one of his favorite cartoons that aired on the old channels.

" _When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield. If he's led to a fight and a duel is due, then the red and white and the blue'll come through, when Captain America throws his mighty shield._ " Steve said, singing along with the hero's theme song that had his namesake; his parents had been big fans of the show back in the day and so they decided to name him after the star-spangled-banner hero, middle name and all.

"Oh goodness, I haven't heard that song in years!" Steve continued, smiling brightly as Bucky looked at him in surprise. He hadn't expected the blonde to be back so soon.

"Yeah, they were having a marathon and I had nothing better to do with my time. You're home early." Bucky said, not moving from his spot on the couch. Steve walked towards him, lifting his legs and placing them on top of his lap so he could sit down too.

"I'm always home at this time." Steve defended, slowly running one hand up and down Bucky's calf. It was an absentminded motion, one that didn't require much thought or concentration, he would do this quite often when they sat on the couch, just like this.

"You haven't these past few weeks." Bucky reminded, turning to his TV show.

"I'm sorry, I should probably rectify that." Steve said, apologizing to the brunette.

"Hmm, that's fine. I know you're working hard. Which reminds me? How are the designs going?" Bucky asked, only half interested.

"Great, great, we've done some headway and the kids are growing exponentially, which is all I could ask really." Steve said, glad they could talk about work and nothing else.

"That's exciting. You should totally show me when you're done." Bucky said, going back to the TV.

"Bucky…" Steve said, then trailed off. He wanted to tell him, especially after what happened today, but he couldn't; he was weak, he'd just have to resign to keeping this a secret forever and hoping that Tony was smart enough to keep his mouth shut as well.

"Hmm?" Bucky asked, slightly turning his head.

"Nothing, how was your work today?" Steve asked instead.

"Oh, fine. We got this new guy today, Sam, total klutz—really smart with the tech stuff though, so I think he'll do fine in that, but he needs to learn versatility." Bucky said.

"Like you?" Steve asked, Bucky looked at him then and rolled his eyes.

How would Bucky react if he told him? That was his biggest worry, it couldn't be a good reaction, but would it be an explosive one? Would he ever forgive him? He thought earlier that maybe he would, maybe if he played it as an accident, but even he knew he wouldn't convince his husband of that. He was almost at the point of no return.

He'd warned Tony of playing a dangerous game, but he'd conveniently forgotten that this was a game for two, and he was currently losing.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally! Something exciting happens.**


	7. Bookstore

Steve wanted so much to convince Bucky to not follow him into work that morning. But it was tradition for the brunette to accompany him on his days off. He didn't think it would bode well for his health if both Tony and Bucky were in the same breathing space. But alas, he couldn't stop either of them from doing what they wanted.

As they rounded the corner, the brunette stood there with a book in his hands, the book that Steve assumed belonged to him. The brunette's eyebrows rose past his stylish hairline and he put the book behind his back, effectively shielding it from Steve's reach. Well this threw a wrench in the works, didn't it?

"What are you doing here?" Bucky asked, before Steve could.

"I _own_ the place. Why does everyone seem to forget that?" Tony retorted, arrogantly. He really couldn't stand Barnes sometimes, the man could be as annoying as… well, he really shouldn't say that, who was trying to steal who's husband again? (Technically you can't steal what is supposed to be yours, but still, in this context, Tony was the bad guy.)

"Remind me never to ask him any questions." Bucky said, mock-whispering to Steve.

The blonde couldn't reply though, he was looking at Tony as if he were trapped with a caged animal that was ready to pounce at him when the zookeeper (Bucky) wasn't looking.

"If you have to know, I'm just here to check on the designs. This time I want to have a bit more involvement, people say you should be a proactive boss; I won't interfere, I simply want a looksee." Tony said, coming up with the best excuse at the moment. He _really_ hadn't meant to say that, but Bucky really threw off his entire mojo and now he was standing there with no reason to be there but Steve. But he couldn't very well say that, now could he?

"I think we've got it on our end." Steve said, begging Tony with his eyes not to push the subject any further. He'd do anything to get out of the situation, well, anything he'd already done.

"I just want to make sure, these are brand new designs after all." Tony said, he wouldn't bite the bait this time. He didn't care how uncomfortable it made Steve feel. This once, he'd be selfish, even if it meant stepping into something he probably should leave alone.

Tony could see how much Steve loathed him at the moment. He could see it in the way he closed himself off and became an unfeeling block of ice. Bucky could see it too, he tried to silently console him but to no avail, the blonde walked ahead of both of them, leaving a hot trail behind.

"Why are you pushing him Stark? It's obvious he doesn't want you around." Bucky said, he should probably not start something, he should just let it be. This was, after-all, part of Steve's job.

"Is it now? I didn't think there was anything wrong with making sure good progress is made on these designs." Tony said, sticking with the lie. It would be better not to raise any suspicion, enough he was destroying their relationship from the inside.

"Stop playing dumb, you know what you're doing. It doesn't help that you own the place either." Bucky said hotly.

"I could have him fired for showing such disrespect, and I could have you removed for such hostility." Tony said, narrowing his eyes. He didn't want to be mean, but he had to let the other man know he wasn't afraid of his accusations.

"Then why don't you?" Bucky asked, stepping up to Tony's bluff.

"Is that really what you want? For him to lose a steady and well-paying job? It would make it incredibly difficult for him to find work again if I so wanted it." Of course he didn't mean it, he would never do Steve dirty like that—no matter what universe they were currently in.

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Bucky said, shaking his head and walking away from the billionaire.

Tony cursed at himself—he really needed to stop letting his temper get the best of him.

* * *

"Steve, I think you should come home with me tonight." Bucky said as he noticed the other employees leaving. Steve's shift didn't end until a couple of hours from now, and even then, he stayed a couple extra more on heavier periods such as this.

"Why?" Steve asked. He didn't know what Bucky had done, but the other brunette had never made it past the outside door. He was thankful for that, even if his entire morning had been slightly ruined.

"You know why. I don't want Stark to come by and pester you again." Bucky said. He still trusted Steve to hold his own, but Stark was persistent, and Bucky knew that there was still a well in Steve's mind that he'd never managed to empty; a well which had that bastard's initials all over it.

"I understand your concern, but really Buck, it's unnecessary. Besides, these designs are just starting to come together and I really want to get this done as soon as possible." Steve said. He didn't quite know why he was making excuses to stay later, he should just accept his husband's request and be done for the day.

"What if he comes back again, what are you doing to do?" Bucky asked, getting a bit concerned for Steve's reluctance to leave.

"What _can_ I do? He owns the place, these are technically _his_ designs. If he wants to see them, I can't stop him." Steve said, he couldn't face Bucky right now, he knew he'd say something confessional if he did.

"Damn it Steve, why do you both like to play dumb? You know, damn well that's not what I'm asking!" Bucky said, raising his voice enough for the remainder of the staff to turn and look at them quizzically.

"Then elucidate me, honey, what exactly are you trying to say?" Steve asked, trying to bring the conversation back down to a pleasant murmur.

"Do _not_ patronize me Rogers, I'm asking you to be truthful with me. Ever since he appeared you've been jumpy and nervous, but now that I'm providing you with a way out, you blatantly refuse it, _and_ use work as your excuse. Why? I'm sure the staff wouldn't mind if you left now, right guys?" Bucky said, turning to the other two or three employees left, they nodded erratically, not quite sure how to respond.

"Don't… don't involve them in this. Their shifts ended hours ago." Steve said, looking apologetically at the others.

"Then why do _you_ have to stay behind?" Bucky asked, trying his hardest to understand his husband's reasoning.

"Bucky, it's _always_ been this way. You know this." Steve tried to remind.

"Yes, but this time it's different, and you know it. _He's_ back and I'm only trying to look out for you, for _us_. I don't want him coming between us Steve." Bucky said, holding his husband's hand and looking into his eyes with something akin to fear. _Not again._

"I'm sorry Bucky—Steve meant so much more with that than Bucky knew—but I can handle it. I won't let anything happen, okay?" Well, anything _else_.

Bucky took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Okay, I trust you. But if anything does happen, anything at all, you tell me, okay? Do not keep secrets from me Steve, we made vows; I'm upholding my end of the bargain, now I'm expecting you to do the same." Bucky said seriously.

The Hand of Infidelity closed around Steve's throat making it impossible for him to speak and assure Bucky that everything was going to be alright. He cleared his throat, but that didn't help much. "Of course." Steve forced out, how could he… how could he have done such a thing?

"Okay." Bucky said, placing a small kiss on Steve's temple and dropping the subject matter. If Steve was sure he could handle himself, he wouldn't try to convince him that he wasn't.

* * *

Bucky left with only one last look and a question. _"Are you sure you're okay to stay?"_ No, Bucky, no he's not. But Steve didn't say anything the second time either, he just smiled and shooed his husband and his all-too real fears away.

Like clockwork, the other brunette appeared (about an hour later), it was as if he had a radar telling him when Steve was alone. Now that he thought about it… he looked up at the corner of the room and to the inconspicuous camera that hung there. He shook his head and just put his designs on the table and looked at Tony.

"I'm sorry about this morning… I really shouldn't have been expecting anything from yesterday." Tony said, he hung his head, the book still in his hands. He walked to one side of Steve, fingering the border of the rough-drafts. So far, so good.

"I'm running out of things to say, Tony." Steve replied, not giving any indication that he would say more than that.

"I have your book." Tony reminded, walking around to the other side of the table and stretching his arm out for the blonde to take.

Steve reached his hands, but before he could touch it the billionaire brought it closer to himself, forcing the blonde to stretch even further for it. They continued this little dance until Tony's back was pressed against the edge of the table and Steve was pressed fully into him. Tony held the book just at arms way and looked up with a smug smile.

"I'll give it to you, _if_ you do me a favor first." Tony whispered. The blonde didn't even look surprise, Tony always came with multiple strings attached. "Come to dinner with me." Tony continued, not waiting for Steve to reply.

"Do you really think that I'll fall for that?" Steve said, removing himself from Tony's space.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked feigning nonchalance.

"First it's a dinner, then it's a date, it can't just be one thing with you can it?" Steve said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What difference does it make? It's just food after all, then I'll give you your book, I promise." Tony said, holding the object in his hands.

"I don't even want the damn book." Steve sighed a bit fed up with Tony's mannerisms. If it wasn't one thing, it was the other with the brunette.

"C'mon, I'll know you'll say yes." Tony said, very sure of himself, he really shouldn't toy with Steve like that, it really made him seem like the asshole he was trying to avoid being.

The sad part was that he did say yes, he didn't even question it when they rode up to a hotel rather than a restaurant. He wanted so much to just walk away and forget this was happening, but this reminded him so much of back then, and like a recovering drug addict, he couldn't quite shake the urge to quit this.

"Don't you think it is a little too much to rent the Honeymoon Suite just to eat dinner?" Steve asked skeptically, as he took a sip of the complementary water while Tony drank the white wine; he really wasn't one for alcohol.

"Hmm." Tony replied shrugging his shoulders as if to say that he hadn't planned it that way. The chefs arrived with the food, quite a modest dinner if Steve were to say so, nothing too heavy a simple soup and freshly made French bread to add weight to it.

It didn't dawn on Steve until much later into the meal that they really hadn't been here to eat.

ooOOoo

"Shi- Tony, why do we always end up here?" Steve asked as he dipped his head into the brunette's neck and bit the skin he found there. He pushed Tony deeper into the soft bed as his lust overrode any sensible thought.

"Maybe it's because we were destined to end up here." Tony replied, turning his head to give Steve more playing room.

It hadn't taken long for Tony to coerce Steve into kissing him, it really was starting to get easier for Steve to give into those long-lost desires that he had tried to kill all those years ago. He would have tried harder to resist them if he weren't so hell-bent on taking Tony's shirt off.

The brunette pushed Steve up and rolled them to the other side of the king bed so now he was on top. Tony brought Steve's face into his as he straddled the blonde, his heart racing quicker with each kiss. His cheeks were bright red and he felt hot all over; Tony ground their hips together, reveling in that delicious friction, his breath coming in quick gasps as he tried to pour his all into Steve.

The blonde was quick to retaliate, bringing both his hands down on Tony's waist and starting a slow rhythm that escalated into irregular grinding by the end of it. Miraculously, they were both still fully clothed, with the exception of Tony's sunglasses and Steve's jacket—those were lying haphazardly on the floor somewhere.

The blonde turned them over again, bringing Tony's legs around his waist and grabbing both his wrists with one of his hands, frantically kissing the brunette again.

"Steve, we can't keep doing this." Tony said, a silent plea in the depths of his brown eyes.

"I'm not… I'm not gonna sleep with you. I've made a vow, I'm going to keep it." Steve said, all that they had done,it wasn't _technically_ cheating, seeing as no penetration had been involved. (At least that's what Steve told himself at night.)

"And what is it exactly that we are doing now?" Tony asked, stopping his movements and just laying still on the bed looking up into the confused blues of the person above him. "I don't think your Bucky would be too happy if he found is in the state that we are in, sex or no." Tony continued, pointing a huge flaw in Steve's backwards reasoning.

"This doesn't count." Steve said, feeling like a stupid teenager again when the words escaped his lips. _This doesn't count,_ was he really that naïve to think that what he was doing didn't count? His cheeks got redder as he looked down into Tony's disbelieving eyes, the brunette wasn't sure if he should scoff or laugh.

"Steve, look me in the eyes and tell me you're serious. _This doesn't count?_ And what about yesterday, you came didn't you. A kiss I can understand, it's just saliva—the Europeans do it all the time, best-friends even, but _this_ … I don't know what sort of fantasy world you've been living in, dear, but you're in no man's land." Tony said, elucidating Steve's askew views of right and wrong. And, of course, Tony was right—he was a cheater, fair and square, from the moment he kissed Tony in the car until now, he'd been thinking about nothing but the moment when someone would call him out on his bullshit.

"So what is it going to be?" Tony asked. The mood was pretty much dead now, but he knew that Steve still had a decision to make and that tomorrow might be a different story. He didn't mind being Steve's accomplice in this moral crime, but he also had to know that Steve wasn't bouncing back and forth on the meaning of being loyal. How confusing all this was, if he'd just stayed put and given himself a couple of days to figure himself out, _none of this would be happening._

"Tony I can't, this is the only thing keeping me sane right now, if I do this I'm through. Bucky would never forgive me." Steve begged. He was so torn, his mind was in pieces and everything seemed to be ass-backwards right now.

"Then go to him, like you said, _this doesn't count_. If you really think your Bucky will take you back after what you've done, then go. But if you come back, do so with the knowledge of what you're doing, none of this 'trial version' shit. Understand?" Tony said, half-making sense.

"What?" Steve asked, intelligently.

"I mean that if tomorrow you change your mind, don't expect me to hold back. It is up to you to draw the line, if you cross it again I'm not stopping." Tony warned. He took a deep breath and removed himself from underneath Steve. He grabbed the book from the little coffee-table he had left it in earlier and put it in Steve's hands.

"I'll call a taxi." Tony said, pulling out his phone from his jacket pocket. Steve was silent as he looked at Tony's handsome profile. He wanted to do so many things to the brunette, but currently he just felt numb and dumb, like that sixteen year old who had been way over his head.

ooOOoo

Tony walked down with Steve, giving the taxi driver the money and looking at Steve one last time. He wouldn't force the blonde again, it was clear where his loyalties lay; even if they were split, _he_ was in the minority.

He walked back into the hotel ready to return to his room when he overhead a conversation at the front desk.

"What do you mean you've cancelled our reservation?" A very angry woman said at the counter, she carried many bags with her and was neatly dressed in a pants-suit. Next to her was a gorgeous blonde, with a white afternoon dress.

"We're so sorry miss, we had a last minute call-

"I don't care, I've had that room reserved for three months now! I put a deposit down and everything." The brunette argued with the lady behind the counter.

"And we will promptly refund you the amount in full between 3 to 5 business days." The lady said, trying to do damage control.

"Honey, it's fine, we can celebrate our Honeymoon somewhere else…" The blonde whispered softly, it was loud enough for Tony to hear though, and he instantly felt bad. He had wondered why the room had cost extra.

"Excuse me, I believe I'm at fault here." Tony said, bringing the attention to himself.

"No Mr. Stark-

"Ah, let me finish. These two lovely ladies deserve the best for their special night. I want you to put their names back in for that room, free of charge of course, and bill all the following expenses to me. As an apology for my misunderstanding." Tony finished looking at the two women. They reminded him a lot of him and Steve when they were first married, well… that never happened did it? It was all in his head, he wonders if it had all been in his head and _this_ was reality.

"I don't need your chari-

"Natasha, stop, this wonderful gentleman is willing to give us back the room _for free_. Just be grateful." The blonde said, stopping her wife in the middle of her tirade. "Thank you Mr. Stark." She said then, turning to Tony.

"No problem dear, remember to splurge, you only ever have _one_ honeymoon." Tony said and smiled sadly at the two women. He walked away and to his car, putting his head down on the steering wheel and taking a deep breath. He drove home then and tried his hardest not to make any sound as he let the tears fall as the full realization of what he had done came crashing down. He didn't cry very often, but when he did, he didn't want anyone to witness his pathetic display of emotion.

* * *

"Steve, where did you find this? I couldn't even find a copy online!" Bucky exclaimed as he held the elusive first copy of the _Adventures and Misfortunes of: Captain Bradley Sarah_. He always told Steve he read history books, and that was quite true, but they were history books on _pirates_. He'd been looking for the first copy to the _Adventures_ series and so far he'd found zilch on the first one. And here comes Steve bringing it out of the blue as if it was just another book. It kinda, sorta', made up for the fact that he had waited hours for Steve to return home.

"I felt bad for coming home so late so I stopped by a bookstore and asked for a history book, the lady said this would be perfect for you." Steve said surprised to find that not everything from last night had been a total disaster, even though he had to lie.

"God, it must have cost you a fortune, there are not many of these around for sale. This is basically a collector's item." Bucky said, marveling at the cover.

"Actually, she gave it to me for free." Steve admitted, wondering if that was the smartest move on his part.

"For free?! Where is this bookstore, we need to go there immediately!" Bucky exclaimed, getting ready to grab his coat.

"I can take you there now if you would like." Steve said, feeling happy for the first time since he'd kissed Tony. He'd forgotten how much he loved to see his husbands smile.

Maybe all those kisses hadn't gone in vein.

ooOOoo

The place was a lot easier to find in the day since the green door contrasted nicely against all the other dull colors.

"Before we go in, I have to warn you, there's this older lady who runs the store, she can be a bit strange at times so just, you know, be prepared." Steve said.

Bucky nodded not really paying attention to what Steve was saying.

"How did you even know this was a bookstore, it looks just like an apartment building." Bucky asked.

"That's probably because it is, I don't know, I think I found it on the internet or something." Steve said. He found himself telling Bucky many unnecessary lies lately, he wanted to stop but he knew that that would be impossible in his current predicament.

As they entered the room Bucky gasped, there were so many books! All of them probably first editions.

"Ah, you have finally returned, with _this_ husband." The old la- _Laura_ said, walking over to the counter. Steve looked pleadingly at her not to say much more. She had that look on her face again, the one that incited some form of fear in the pit of his stomach.

"Buchanan, what a name, not many mugs carry it am I right?" She said.

Bucky took a step back, completely taken by surprise at the sudden statement.

"How did you—

"I have my tricks my boy, being incredibly good at guessing is one of them." She said, her blue eyes lighting up again. It seemed that Laura had a penchant for fucking around with people.

"That's more than a guess, it's like you've read my mind or something." Bucky said, chuckling a bit. He didn't find it half as odd as Steve though; he'd always been more inclined to believe in the supernatural.

"Or something." She replied nodding her head slightly. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked the two of them.

"Yes, I was just wondering where you obtained the first copy of the _Adventures and Misfortunes_ series. My husband handed it to me this morning and I had no idea, I thought all the copies were extinct or with some collector. If I'm not mistaken, it feels as if it is the first edition as well." Bucky said, enthused with his find.

"That's probably because it is." Laura said, pulling down another book from the shelf.

"No way." Bucky whispered, getting closer to the counter.

"Yes way, I was a collector of sorts back in my day, I made it my life's passion to find treasures; books have always been my favorites though." Laura said, pulling down another book from a lower shelf. "Damn, where is it?" She cursed, bending down even lower to look for, and ah — there it was.

"That's incredible, I just wanted to know though, why did you give it away like that? It must be worth a fortune!" Bucky asked a bit perplexed by the whole thing.

"Like I told his other husband, money does not interest me. When you grow to be my age you'll figure that out for yourself. Knowledge is power my boy, not wealth." Laura said placing two more books on the counter until she was satisfied.

"Other husband, what are you talking about?" Bucky asked turning to look at his husband and back to the lady.

"Oh, poor me, I must be thinking of another gentleman. Very nice boy, looks almost like you if he were a couple of years younger." Laura said, her eyes shifting from Bucky to Steve. "You know, in my old age we tend to go senile, confuse things for other things if you will. Don't pay my ramblings any mind, I'm just an old lady with too many books." She finished never letting Steve's gaze go until she was satisfied with what she found there. Steve felt his heart stop by his throat where it sat there and didn't move until it was sure he got the message.

"Huh." Bucky said, nodding his head but not really believing her excuses.

"Here, I think these books will suit your liking. We have the final copy of the _Adventures_ tales, the second and fourth volume to _Captain Drake and His Pyrates,_ the last copy of _Madeline Trousseaux and Her Lady Pyrates_ , boy you do enjoy your pirate tales, and finally the first copy of _Jack_ _and the Seven Treasures_. I think you'll find everything in order." Laura said smiling softly at Bucky's shocked face. She felt sorry for him, the mistakes of another would eventually end in his suffering, she would have offered him a deal—but then that would just muddy up the waters even more.

"How do you know that these were all the copies I needed?" Bucky asked, marveling at each title. (Not forgetting what she had said earlier, but momentarily occupied.)

"Like I said, I have a gift for guessing things. It seems to make some people uncomfortable." She said, looking pointedly at Steve.

"I don't even care how you knew, I just know that you've just made the rest of my month!" Bucky said, then his face fell. "One book maybe you can part with, but _five_ … I wouldn't expect you to be so kind. How much?" Bucky asked, trying to calculate how badly his bank account would suffer if he purchased them all at once.

"Boy, you sure are stubborn, didn't you hear me tell you that money is not of importance to me. Take them, take them all and _keep_ them. Enjoy the knowledge you obtain from them. You're just like my husband use to be, brute and only concerned with the physical and monetary aspect of things. You know the brain needs exercise as well!" Laura said energetically.

"Yes, I know. Thank you for showing such kindness to a complete stranger." Bucky said, picking up all the books from the counter and holding them close, oh the smell of the books were enough to get him off for the rest of the week!

"Woah boy, calm down, they're just books. And don't mention it, I hope they keep you company in your time of need. You never know when a good book could save your sanity." Laura warned, walking to the back of her shop.

"Tell me about it, goodbye Miss. I'll definitely return." Bucky said, having a bit of trouble heaving such large books but was able to manage eventually.

Steve had been standing by the back, trying to keep himself as still and invisible as possible.

Bucky looked at him as they left the store and that's when Steve knew that _Bucky_ knew that they were going to have an argument soon.

"Are we going or not?" Bucky asked him, his eyebrows raised and his eyes cold.

Steve nodded, leaving the store more worried than he'd gone in.

The ride back home was tense and quiet; those were the worst, when he knew Bucky was silently brooding and stewing in his anger.

It wasn't until the books were safely placed with the others that Bucky turned to face him, and looked at him, _really_ looked at him.

"I knew him returning couldn't have spelled anything but bad news for us. Tell me Steve, did you even _have_ to stay behind or were you just lying to me?" Bucky asked Steve, almost in a whisper.

Steve didn't answer, averting his eyes to the floor like the wood found there could save him.

"Where were you last night Steve, when I waited hours for you to get back home, waited for so long that I fell asleep? I couldn't even stay up for my husband because you came back _so late_. Where were you?" Bucky asked, his bright eyes shining with unshed tears. He was trying really hard to hold them back, it took everything within him not to crack.

"I was at work, Bucky, please trust me." Steve said, with this he _was_ telling the truth. He hoped Bucky could see that.

"You didn't really find that bookstore on your own did you?" Bucky said, his bottom lip pouting out and quivering every couple of seconds.

"Buck-

"Don't you 'Buck' me! Answer me, tell me the truth Steve… are you cheating on me?" Bucky asked, finally asking the question. How could everything have gone to shit in less than three months? Was Stark so damn volatile that his mere appearance could destroy almost a decade old relationship?

"What? No, Bucky, no, I am not." _LIAR_. Steve reassured stepping closer to Bucky, but stopping when his husband put his finger up.

"Then where were you last night?" Bucky asked, making sure to keep a safe distance between him and Steve; he wasn't sure who he was trying to protect the most.

"I was at work, okay, for the remainder of my shift and then some... he did come back to the office, but that's it, he just wanted to look at the designs, like he had said." Steve said; well maybe it wasn't the whole _truth_ , but you know, baby steps. He pleasantly omitted the past couple of weeks and the hotel scene, he didn't want Bucky to have an aneurism so early in his life.

"That's it? Why do I have a feeling you're lying to me, just like you did last night, just like you did that other afternoon when I brought you lunch." Bucky said, narrowing his eyes. "Don't disappoint me Steve; it's best if you come out with it now before it gets any worse." Bucky said, hoping against hope that Steve would uphold their vows to be truthful.

"We may have… kissed." Steve said, keeping his head low to the ground, like a disobedient child. He said the most innocent of actions, hoping that the rest would not be unveiled as the argument progressed.

"That dead motherfucker!" Bucky growled, storming out of the room and grabbing the keys.

"Bucky wait! It wasn't… it wasn't his fault, I-I was the one who started it." Steve clarified before Bucky could do anything that he may later regret.

Bucky turned around slowly, his heart shattering in his eyes—the look of utter pain and dismay reflected back what Steve must have looked like when he came to Bucky looking for help seven years ago.

"What?" Bucky breathed, shaking his head 'no' at the fact.

"I'm sorry, Bucky I'm sorry." Steve said, the only thing he could say at the moment as his husband looked at him with disbelief and disgust; he had failed him, and _lied_ about it. How could he have ever thought that this was going to end up _well_?

"Get out." Bucky said suddenly, his voice emotionally absent. It wasn't the kiss (though that did play a big part in it) it was the principle of the thing, the fact that in such a short time all his work had been undone in a matter of hours, the fact that Steve would lie to his face and tell him everything was okay when it _obviously_ wasn't.

"Bucky please." Steve pleaded.

"Go! Get out, leave!" Bucky shouted, he wasn't one to raise his voice above the level of a busy crowd but he was so _fucking_ angry right now, but most of all he was disappointed and downright hurt. He trusted Steve, trusted him to not mess this up. His fears were actualizing themselves in front of his eyes and he felt as if he could do nothing about them. What else was he keeping from him? By the way Steve held himself, it seemed like a lot.

"I'm sorry, Buck, I'm sorry." Steve pleaded. He knew it was a lost cause, Bucky was _beyond_ angry; there was no reasoning with him in his current state.

"If you don't leave now Steve, I swear to God, I will have you forcibly removed." Bucky threatened, echoing Tony's sentiment from yesterday, and hating himself more for it. It was Steve's final warning and even he knew when to give up.

Steve picked up a jacket and left his apartment.

It wasn't until he felt around in his pockets that he realized he'd left his keys too.

* * *

 **A/N: oh, shit, what is gonna happen next?! Some shit just hit the ceiling fan I'll tell you that.**


	8. Lucifer in Disguise

Bucky was understandably irate that following morning. He had tried to read the books the saleswoman had given him, but even his favorite pastime seemed devoid of emotion and fun as that day's events replayed in his head.

How could he have caved in so quickly? Steve…

Bucky held the notepad closer to his chest and closed his eyes, momentarily in solitude with his thoughts until he could open them again and resume his work.

Bucky was normally a hard manager, (a tough love sort of deal) but today he was even harder than before, especially on the new guy: Sam. (Well he isn't really knew, he's been working here for two months but still, he's the _newest_ recruit, plus, he kinda' pissed Bucky off on occasion.) Regardless, the other guys could sense that there was something off in the normally cheerful Barnes. They didn't ask him about it, either because they were too afraid to approach him or they seriously couldn't be bothered.

"Hey, what the hell is your problem?" Sam asked, suddenly fed up with Bucky's disregard for comradery or even _trying_ to hide how blatantly unfair and just plain cruel he was being towards the other man.

"Excuse _me_?" Bucky asked, suddenly taken by surprise by such insubordination.

"I _said_ what is your problem? I've been doing everything you asked of me today but nothing seems to suit you, how many times can I retype the same passage, or move the delivery boxes? Not to mention, you're being kind-of an asshole." Sam said, not watching his mouth, he didn't even like the job anyway. He thought that when he was signing up for the IT position that he would get to work with, you know, _computers_ , not hauling boxes left and right and managing data-sheets on said boxes. Coupled with the fact that Barnes had a stick so far up his ass you could see it poking out of his throat didn't help either. He was this close to quitting, but he had promised his mom that he would find something stable until he could finish his degree.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize a little bit of criticism would hurt your _liwwle fewwings_." Bucky mocked, miming a crying motion with both his hands.

"There's criticism, and then there's you." Sam said, narrowing his eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bucky said, his cheeks burning hot red.

"I'm going on my break." Sam said instead, logging out of the computer. "You're not scheduled for a break yet." Bucky said to his retreating back.

"I really don't give—care." Sam said, watching his mouth this time, he was still in a professional environment, and he was a grown up. He had to start acting like it.

ooOOoo

" _Bucky please, it's been two weeks; you haven't answered any of my calls, you won't reply to my texts or emails, please baby I'm sorr-_

Bucky quickly hit the end button on the voicemail and almost threw the phone over the railing and into the city-scape below. He was currently on the roof listening to the twenty-three voice messages he had finally allowed himself to open. They all pretty much said the same thing. _I'm sorry._

"Yeah, well you should have thought of that before you cheated on me." Bucky said murderously into the air above him. He would have thought that his anger was misplaced and irrational if it weren't for the fact that he _knew_ Steve did more than kiss Tony. If it was just that, he could _maybe_ understand, but he knew _, he knew_ that Steve and Tony had done so much more than an innocent kiss. He didn't want to believe that Steve was so unfaithful that he would sleep with someone else, but he knew his husband, he knew that the man would try to circumvent his infidelity by keeping it strictly on level three. It was the only thing that kept Bucky sane at the moment, knowing that (even in the time of greatest weakness) Steve wouldn't succumb to that siren's song, well, not _yet_ anyways.

Bucky gripped the railing on the roof, struggling to contain the tears that were leaking out regardless.

He sobbed suddenly, the unexpected noise taking him by surprise. He hadn't realized how badly he was hurting until then.

"Uh, Mr. Barnes." That would be Sam, Bucky thought as he quickly turned around and wiped the stupid tears from his eyes.

"How long have you been standing there? What do you want?" Bucky asked accusingly, he'd been startled, not expecting the man (or anyone for that matter) to sneak up on him.

"Not long, I was just wondering where you were, you had disappeared and… I just wanted to apologize for my outburst last Monday. It was uncalled for, and now in retrospect I can see that you were probably dealing with some personal things." Sam said, his heart beating irregularly in his chest as he saw the tear-streak face of his pseudo-boss. He had an uncharacteristic urge to hug the brunette, he made sure to keep his distance though. He barely knew James Barnes.

"Yeah well, I shouldn't have taken it out on you guys. Uh, is there anything else you needed?" Bucky asked, not retaining eye-contact for very long with the man in front of him. He felt so vulnerable all of a sudden, as if his entire being had been exposed.

"Hey, are you okay? I know it's none of my business, but…" Sam said, trailing off, not sure where he was going with that.

"Yeah, why?" Bucky asked quickly, feigning nonchalance. Before Sam could reply Bucky's phone began to vibrate again, the smiling picture of Steve appeared on the screen, and without blinking he chucked the phone as far as he could possibly throw it watching as it disappeared over the horizon.

"Woah!" Sam exclaimed, both impressed and a little mortified. He'd never seen such a throw before, but he knew that behind it there came a lot of emotion.

Bucky held the railing again, his entire frame shaking as he tried to contain the ugly sobs that threatened to spill at any second.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Sam whispered, taking a step closer to the brunette. Sure they weren't on the best of terms, but his mother had raised him better than that—he wasn't about to leave the man to his own devices, he was obviously unstable.

"No." Bucky said, his voice cracking embarrassingly.

"Okay." Sam said again, in that hushed tone.

"He's cheating on me." Bucky sobbed into his hands, his entire body rocking unsteadily over the edge. Sam took a step closer, reaching his arms in a reflexive motion.

"Who-who is?" Sam asked confused, first, he didn't know Bucky was gay, and second, he _just now_ noticed the wedding band around his left-ring finger.

"Him, _Steve_!" Bucky said, angry now. He had given everything to that bastard, everything, and this is how he repaid Bucky's love, by lying and cheating and, and…

"Hey, woah, hey, it's gonna be alright. Hey hush, shh." Sam said as he kneeled down to where Bucky had collapsed to his knees.

"What are you doing here Wilson, you should be working." Bucky said sobbing with each word.

"Oh, fuck that. You need a drink." Sam said suddenly, then looked over the railing where Bucky had been standing. "And a new phone."

* * *

"Wow, that's fucked up, I know you're gonna hate me for this, but _the_ Tony Stark, you know, the one who graduated from MIT at seventeen, Tony Stark? The one who turned his daddy's millions into billions and is the most successful billionaire of his time _Tony Stark_?" Sam said, letting his fanboy freak out for a moment, even though the time was not appropriate.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, like he needs another ego boost." Bucky said, sipping his drink. They were currently on the third round and he felt a lot more comfortable with Sam, what with having sappily spilled the past decade of his life… he'd come to regret it in the morning, probably.

"I'm sorry, that must have been a lot." Sam said, feeling inadequate at the moment.

"You have no idea." Bucky said downing the rest of the alcohol and requesting a refill from the bartender.

"Hey, I think maybe we should dial it back on the liver damage." Sam said, taking the cup away from Bucky before he could take another sip and instead slipped him a glass of water.

The brunette looked at him, narrowing his eyes out of confusion, but accepted the water with no other form of resistance. "Thanks, for this. I know… I know I've been a real hardass-

"Hey, save it. I've had worse bosses before." Sam said, flashing a blinding smile. He was happy he could help the brunette, even if it was costing him a pretty penny; alcoholism wasn't cheap ladies and gentlemen.

"I just wanted to let you know I appreciated your kindness." Bucky said, drinking the water. The bartender walked over to refill his water cup, the slicked black hair and blue eyes kind of reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite be bothered to place _who_ at the moment.

"Do you want to, maybe go outside, this place has a great view from the patio." Sam said, offering some relief from the heaviness that had been their conversation.

"Sure, I have nothing better to do tonight." Bucky said, standing up shakily as vertigo hit him. Sam had to steady him so he wouldn't fall. The brunette swallowed hard as he felt the tight grip on his own shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, he hadn't had that much to drink compared to his mourning companion.

"Yeah, yeah, just a little light-headed is all. I haven't drank like that in a while, I've become a light-weight again." Bucky said, chuckling awkwardly as Sam let him go. He put a twenty on the table on top of Sam's forty and headed outside with the man.

"You weren't kidding, that view is something." Bucky said, sitting on one of swinging patio chairs that overlooked the night sky-line. He patted the space next to him waiting for Sam to sit down and then commenced a rhythmic swing.

"What are you going to do now?" Sam asked, not wanting to bring stuff up, but he knew that Bucky was running away from the real problem at hand.

"I don't… I don't know." Bucky whispered, playing with the hem of his shirt.

"I think you should give him another chance, you know, like in baseball." Sam said.

"Sam, you don't understand—

"No, listen, if what you said is true, then he's truly sorry. He's given you your space, but if you keep pushing him away you're only giving him more reason to go to Tony." Sam said, bringing up a good point.

"You think so?" Bucky asked, looking into Sam's brown eyes, they were so big and warm that they stirred something deep in his heart. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, didn't _really_ want to know, enough he was dealing with Steve's bullshit.

"I know so… hey, this might seem kind of random but, I didn't know you were gay until you said _he_." Sam said, feeling comfortable enough with Bucky to say as much.

"Oh, really, well, _that's_ another can of worms to open for another day." Bucky said, smiling brightly, the happiest Sam has seen him in a while.

He didn't know what urged him to do it, but something in Sam told him to. He had always been socially awkward with things that involved feelings or relationships, he really didn't know how to go about them, but when Bucky smiled that toothy grin, with his blue-green eyes shining in the warm glow of the many candles he felt the urge in him to kiss the man. (And maybe alcohol was involved in the decisions making process?)

Bucky gasped slightly, his eyes bugging out of his head. He had _not_ been expecting that! Well, it was definitely no _Steve_ but… but…

Bucky closed his eyes, sighing into the kiss. He hadn't felt anything like that in a _while_ ; when Steve kissed him it always seemed out of desperation, or because it had become routine. But when Sam kissed him, without any strings attached, it felt… it felt, goddammit it _felt_.

But this wasn't how this was supposed to go. Bucky broke the kiss first, lowering his head and balling his fists. "Sam—

"Oh god, I am _so sorry_. What the hell was that? I-I didn't mean to _do_ that! Shit, I'm so sorry-

"Hey wait no, s'fine, don't worry about it." Bucky said, looking up and smiling sheepishly at Sam's innocent reaction. His cheeks were still red though, and his heart was racing a mile a minute.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, awkwardly smiling. What had _that_ been all about? Did he really just take advantage of Bucky's current predicament? How low could one man go?

"Yeah, totally. I mean, I wasn't expecting it, but it wasn't _bad_ or anything. It's just a kiss…" Bucky said, a sudden realization dawning on him that had taken three weeks to uncover.

"Yeah, yeah. I promise I won't do that again. I didn't mean to take advantage of you or anything either, Jesus, I hope this doesn't ruin my first impression." Sam rambled, getting worked up over potentially having lost a newly made friend.

"I said it was _fine_. Now, we need to get home before it gets any later." Bucky said. Getting up from the chair and stretching like a cat.

"Well, you're in no condition to drive, so I'll just call a taxi." Sam said, pulling out his phone, which reminded him…

"We still didn't get you a phone to replace the other one." Sam said, raising an eyebrow at the brunette.

"Yeah, I'll take care of that in the morning, I doubt there are any Verizon's open at this time." Bucky said.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Sam asked, after tonight he hoped that they would see each other again out of a work setting.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. See you at work." Bucky said, getting the okay from Sam to leave.

The darker man watched as he brunette disappeared into the building and then down the elevator. As weird as today had been, he was very glad he hadn't called out from work.

* * *

"Steve, what are you doing here?" Tony asked, now it was his turn to get frustrated with the blonde. It was the day after the whole hotel incident, he had hoped that the blonde would have kept to himself for a couple of more days. Tony had woken up with a bad migraine and was really not in the mood for discussing anything with anyone right now.

"So, that's how that feels." Steve murmured, for once being on the giving end of these awkward encounters.

Tony looked at him expectantly. He really didn't know what today would bring with the blonde, it they weren't arguing they were practically fucking, it was giving him serious whiplash… among other things.

"Bucky kicked me out of the house." Steve admitted, feeling like a kicked dog.

"What am I supposed to do about it? I told you he wouldn't have been comfortable with you and me, you know, doing _whatever_ we were doing." Tony said, waving his hand through the air to signify the 'whatever' part of this rocky relationship (Tony was still a little miffed over Steve's blatant disregard for what they had been doing). He was tirelessly searching night and day for an answer to his question, he wanted so badly to be with his own Steve gain, to repair this tumultuous and unstable timeline, but the more he looked, the more elusive the answer seemed.

"I know, I just—

"You just what, Steve. I'm not a toy—you can't just play with me one second and then get rid of me when you're bored." Tony reminded, getting a bit pissed.

"You seem to forget that I was without you for almost eight _goddamn_ years!" Steve exclaimed, some of his armor falling off to reveal badly-wounded flesh. How had he gone so long without losing every ounce of his mind? How had be made it through? (Bucky, that's how, but it was obvious the other brunette was taking an unexpected hiatus of him.)

"I know, and I'm sorry." Tony said, inaudibly. Steve shook his head, wondering what he had tried to achieve by going into Tony's office.

"I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to bother you, Mr. Stark." Steve said, growing cold and resentful again. It was such a jarring feeling, to want so much to kiss the man as well as hurt him (not physically, just to the same emotional extent that Tony had hurt him). He ran both hot and cold for the man, with no warning as to which he would be next.

"Steve, I really _am_ sorry." Tony said sincerely, but he couldn't bring himself to look at the blonde. He had too much on his mind now, and Steve was all of it. He couldn't deal with all of this at once, for once, he admits that much.

Steve didn't reply, just left the room and returned to his own work.

ooOOoo

It had been almost a month since the fight; Steve let Bucky have his space for the first two days then he started calling, every time the call was either cut short or sent straight to voicemail, his text messages were also ignored, the emails he sent were never replied to and just to test the limits of his husband's psyche, he sent a letter. That too was never heard back from.

He currently stayed in a hotel, it was costing him a little bit more than he'd like since everyday he had to renew his day for another overnight stay since Bucky still wouldn't let him back into the house.

He hadn't heard ear nor tail of Tony, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. On one hand, it was nice to see that he too didn't feel like playing this tale of 'will he or won't he', on the other, he was kinda' feeling lost and he knew that Tony could provide some semblance of comfort at the moment. He didn't know what type of comfort that would _be_ , he just knew he'd find it with him.

He'd run out of clothing and supplies pretty quickly so he'd made runs to the grocery store and mall.

By the end of the month he decided to be bold and visit Bucky at his place of work. Bad idea, the brunette didn't want anything to do with him, not at the moment anyways. He still carried that pained look in his eyes as if he couldn't believe Steve could have fallen so fast.

That day Steve became pissed, pissed at himself sure, but overall pissed at Tony for dragging him down with him. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing marching his way into Tony's office but he'd find out when he got there.

* * *

Bucky had been meaning to call Steve and reconcile their relationship. After the kiss with Sam it was obvious that he may have overreacted, just a little bit. He hadn't realized how easy it was to slip up, especially when alcohol and confusion were involved. But as the days progressed, he found himself less inclined to talk to the blonde, he was at a war with himself wondering if Steve deserved forgiveness or not.

On the other hand Sam had been there for him every step of the way. Now that he'd finally given the other man the time of day he actually found out that he was both smart and hilarious, in that dorky kind of way, which was incredibly endearing to Bucky.

Sam seemed completely over the awkwardness that had happened that night on the patio and Bucky was thankful for it. They were just friends now and that was fine by him, no need to muddy up the waters with unneeded physical interactions.

Bucky was laughing happily at something Sam was saying when the brown man suddenly stopped and looked over Barnes's shoulder to Steve. Sam could tell immediately that this was Barnes's husband, what with the way he had described him and everything. Sam could also see Barnes's mood change immediately, he had promised Sam that he would try to talk to Steve again but it was obvious that he hadn't, what with the way he suddenly tensed and stopped laughing.

"What are you doing here?" Bucky asked, he had been battling with the idea of facing Steve, but now that he had the blonde in front of him he could see how hard that would have been on his own. He started to get angry again, just looking at the way Steve had guilt written all over his face and the way his eyes looked so apologetic, as if he knew he had messed up.

"Bucky, please, what can I do to let you know I'm sorry?" Steve asked, he had been so momentarily happy when he had heard his husband's chiming laugh, but now…

 _Bucky_ was that Barnes's name? Sam wondered offhandedly. He only ever addressed the brunette as Barnes's so he hadn't known about this other name for him.

"Just leave Steve, it doesn't even matter what you did, just leave me alone to figure this out." Bucky asked the brunette.

"Honey… Bucky, it's been a month now, don't you think I've suffered enough?" Steve implored, his entire face transforming into that of a brokenhearted man.

"Well you should have thought about that before you cheated on me." Bucky said lowly, narrowing his eyes at his husband.

"I know, I'm sorry." Steve said, begging for forgiveness again.

"You said that already. Please Steve, just go." Bucky said, sadder than he was angry. He had thought they could move past this, but the whole deal with Tony was too much to handle, he knew that the only way to fix it was to remove one of the brunettes out of the equation, but that would require illegal action and he wasn't sure he was up for the chore of spending the rest of his life in jail.

The blonde understood and walked away the same direction he had come in.

"So… Bucky?" Sam asked, reminding the brunette that they had not been alone for that whole fiasco.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I don't really like the name James, and I'll kill you if you call me Buchanan so Bucky is the nickname I've adopted since I was a little kid." Bucky clarified thankful to talk about something, anything else, really.

"So is it okay if I start calling you that, it seemed pretty personal, when he said it?" Sam asked tentatively. He was treading on some thin ice here and he wanted to keep it from cracking.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, don't worry about it." Bucky replied, waving Sam's worries away.

"I thought you said you were going to forgive him." Sam reminded a couple of minutes later after they had fallen into a strange silence.

"I… I was, but, just seeing him look so guilty, it made me angry again." Bucky replied, he could admit that much.

"Don't you think you should be a little bit more open towards his explanation, I'm sure he had a good reason for coming all the way over here." Sam said. He wasn't sure why he was standing up for the blonde, but he guesses it's because he recognized the face on the man. Absolutely heartbroken and guilt-ridden, he felt incredibly bad for what he did, Sam could see that much.

"Do you really think so? Should I give him a chance to explain himself?" Bucky asked skeptically.

"If you want to do it now you can, I'll cover your shift." Sam said.

"No, no that's fine. I'll… I'll do it later." Bucky said, a small glimmer of hope shining bright in his chest. If it meant that he could reconcile his relationship with Steve… he'd give the other man a chance. He looked at Sam and the man gave him a little nod of encouragement. Bucky took a deep breath and waited until his heart calmed down. He would go to him, but not yet, not until he was sure they would be fine.

Not until his heart stopped beating irregularly whenever Sam was near.

* * *

Tony felt bad having pushed the blonde away, but he had to get his reading done on Loki. He was learning so much more than he thought he knew. Loki was far beyond a mischief maker, he was an expert magician, excellent author, and overall quiet being. He liked to toy with humans, sure, but that was only when he was bored. He never did it out at malice, well, not entirely. He was married, as well, to the God of Thunder, Thor. They'd made quite the power couple back in their day.

The flood: they'd been making some pretty heavy love, a little too close to earth for comfort.

Volcanoes erupting when they're seemingly dormant: Loki getting a tad bit too angry at Thor.

Tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, etc. All because these two were either upset, or having sex, or too _happy_. Though this was all mythology of course, there are actual _scientific_ explanations for why each of these things occurred.

It seemed though that Thor had disappeared for quite some time, Loki had looked tirelessly for him but to no avail, his husband was lost and Loki could only presume that he was dead. It didn't stop his search though, he looked, tirelessly for the other God. So much so that he grew tired and bitter, no longer caring for the sake of the individuals under his charge. There wasn't much beyond that, the book ended quite abruptly, though if Tony had to admit it, the 'book' felt more like a journal than anything; it was handwritten and quite old. But just like the other it was kept in pristine condition.

He put it down and looked over the notes he had gathered so far. He didn't get to do much beyond that when an angry blonde pushed his door open.

"Steve?" Tony asked, confused all of a sudden. He hadn't expected to see the blonde for quite some time. Not after this morning anyway, he had to clear his head, figure out what he was doing. If he messed with this iteration of Steve too much, he might forget his own and settle.

The blonde wasn't listening though, he pushed the door back closed and locked it. He walked around to meet Tony face to face and brought him into a rough kiss; one the brunette hadn't been expecting.

"Is this what you wanted?" Steve asked, on the verge of hysteria, when he'd finally let go of Tony's lips.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Tony asked. He wasn't quite sure what Steve meant. Did he want for Steve to kiss him like that again, well, that depends.

Steve didn't let the other man answer, enveloping into a kiss once more, this time a bit more passionate than rough.

"To see me—kiss—come undone—kiss—by the touch of your hands?" Steve asked between kisses, he was losing his steam, his anger had only carried him to the office, now something stronger was taking over his body and he couldn't quite stop himself.

"Steve, Jesus, what's gotten into you?" Tony asked between breaths. Steve really wasn't giving him the time of day to think, much less talk.

The blonde cleared his desk, picked him up, and placed him on the little patch. He wrapped Tony's legs around his waist, pulling the billionaire closer to himself.

"Tell me Tony, did I ever fuck you against your desk." Steve said more than asked, his hands fumbling with the buckle of Tony's belt.

"I don't think we ever got the chance." Tony replied a bit breathy and needy, his entire body arched in anticipation from Steve's vulgar and unspoken request. The blonde didn't swear very often, but when he did it was with due reason.

"I guess there's a first for everything then." Steve said, kissing Tony's neck as he prepared him. It had been quite some time since even him and _his_ Steve had had sex. What with a busy work-flow and fatigued bodies it only seemed the natural progression of things, it had been about four to five months now if he recalled correctly. In this universe, however, it had been seven years. Seven years of pent-up anger and hurt, most of it (no, all of it) Tony's fault.

So it was only logical he let Steve man-handle him the way he was doing at the moment.

Steve took his time with him though, made sure not to push beyond his limits until Tony was ready. The little sounds Tony made along the urged him on to keep pursuing— _whatever_ hewas doing. He knew he'd feel sorry for this later, just like he did for everything else he'd done, but he knew that he wouldn't regret it, not after all this time.

"Steve, I'm sorry." Tony moaned as he felt the first push from Steve's side.

"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?" Steve said through gritted teeth. _God_ that feeling was like no other, yeah? So long, so, so long.

"I still have to, uh, say it." Tony said, finding it harder to talk coherently with each thrust.

"You're sorry and you don't even, hm, you don't even remember what you said." Steve accused, pulling Tony's legs tighter around himself. The brunette was already hanging on for dear-life, but he wanted to feel him tighter, go deeper. This was long overdue.

"Then remind me." Tony begged, embarrassed by how wrecked his voice sounded at the moment.

"I was proposing to you Tony, I was on one knee asking you to spend the rest of my life with me." Steve said, pulling away slightly so he could lock eyes with Tony.

"I remember that-

"Let. Me. Finish." Steve said, thrusting roughly with each word making the brunette see stars in the back of his lids, he'd missed this, missed all of it not even knowing that he'd lost it.

"You looked so happy, so happy. I thought I had done the correct thing, that for once I felt as if I had taken charge, and that we were finally starting to become equals." Steve confessed, looking deeply into Tony's blown out pupils. He had to understand why he would just _leave_ like that!

Steve's face started to contort then, he was trying very hard not to cry, he'd done enough of that over the years.

"It was all so sudden, so quick. You changed immediately. All my insecurities, you brought them to light all the things I had confided in you over the years you ridiculed and then laughed at them. You called me pathetic, worthless… I didn't know how to respond, the happiest day of my life turned into the worst. And just like that, you left, left me, left our apartment, left our life behind. Everything we had built you took away with you and left me teeter-tottering over the edge." Steve said finally telling Tony what he had wanted to know.

"Bucky was there, he was always there; he helped me out of that dark place you'd locked me into. But what am I doing now, huh? You come waltzing in and months later we're screwing against your desk like nothing ever happened." Steve almost growled, pushing harder with renewed vigor.

"Steve, listen to me, all of that—I didn't, _fuck_ , I didn't mean any of it. I can't really tell you what's happened but I know I messed up, bad. And I, ah, I wish I could fix it, but I don't know how." Tony said, quickly losing control over his body.

"How about you start by laying down." Steve ordered, pushing Tony deeper into the desk so he had a bit more leverage; the brunette was putty against his fingers, so pliable and submissive that it made Steve jerk a bit irregularly.

The conversation seemed to have paused then as the only sounds they could really emit were either short quick gasps or long moans. Tony had always been a bit more on the vocal side, something that Bucky could never emulate. He should stop mixing them together, it would make this a lot less awkward if he could.

It didn't take much longer then, not by the way they were moving anyways. Tony picked himself up on his shoulders, he hated how passionless this session had become, almost as if they were trying to perform for an audience.

"Steve, kiss me." Tony pleaded, he wouldn't be able to come without it. He also knew if Steve refused, that this had all been some small form of reparation and _not_ a step into the right direction.

Steve could never resist Tony when he talked to him like that, though. The blonde picked up the brunette all the way and brought his face into a kiss. This time, none of the anger resonated through their lips, it was only that love that had never truly dissipated in the first place. Tony found it then, the thing that was missing from his original time-line. That spark, the initial one the drove Tony crazy the first time he met Steve, the one that eventually developed into full-blown love. He found it when Steve caressed his face softly as they kissed, the way he would take care of him, even in anger, how he obliged to his every need, how sincere he was in all his actions even after all that had transpired. He found the last piece in the way Steve held him as they climaxed.

* * *

"I take it back, I take it all back!" Tony exclaimed as he ran into the shop, startling Laura before she could regain her composure.

"I thought I told you there were no do-overs with this. You made your decision, now live with it." Laura, _Loki_ (it just clicked), said reminding Tony of the fact.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry okay, I'm sorry and I was stupid, so fucking stupid, so, so stupid." Tony said, falling to his knees in front of the counter.

"Well, at least this was a lesson humility." Loki said. When Tony looked back up the man he had seen the first time he entered, appeared.

"Er, Sir Loki, I'm not quite sure how to convince you that I've learned my lesson, really. I have to go back, I have to change it, please." Tony begged.

"Do you think you're the first human to ever fail to make the correct decision? I don't change my mind very easily; it'll take a lot more than getting on your knees for that to happen." Loki said. "Besides, in the short while you've been here, you've managed to cause much, _much_ havoc. I kinda' like that." Loki finished, walking around the counter to where Tony kneeled.

"You don't understand, I'll do anything, _anything_ to get Steve back." Tony said.

"That's not quite true, you wouldn't be willing to die; that would defeat the whole purpose of bringing him back to your arms." Loki said, walking around the small man. "I'm curious, what did he have to do to remind you of your love for him?" Loki asked, it wasn't as if he couldn't smell the testosterone falling off the brunette like water and guess what had happened, but it was fun to see him shift uncomfortably at the question.

"I see…" Loki said, shaking his head. "I'll tell you what, I've told every other human who has tried, and failed, to convince me to change their fate. Bring me back my husband and I'll give you back yours." Loki said, giving Tony the ultimatum.

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm not a God like you." Tony asked, desperately.

"Well, I hope you're content with breaking up a relationship to keep this Steve." Loki said, shrugging his arms.

Tony thought about it, thought about taking this Steve from Bucky's arms. They'd already pushed it to the edge and then some, what was a little more? Tony was rich, they could go somewhere where they could start over, be happy, and he knew they'd be happy, but the net exchange would always be negative one. Bucky was the one who would lose in this scenario, in his original time-line Bucky had never had Steve in the first place, but here, he had succeeded where Tony had failed.

He had to return things to the way they were, even if that meant doing the impossible.

* * *

 **A/N: IT FINALLY HAPPENED! OHHH, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?! _Well I know what's gonna happen next, you'll just have to wait til Monday._**


	9. The Witch's Curse

**Happy 4TH of July!**

* * *

" _I have to change it, I have to." Tony said as soon as they separated._

" _What are you talking about?" Steve asked him, he really hadn't expected Tony to be able to talk for quite some time, but then again, he_ was _always able to recuperate quickly._

" _You don't get it yet, ah, but you will." Tony promised, hopping off his desk and pulling up his trousers. He'd be sore for a couple of days, but it was a good sore. He had other things in mind though, he needed to go. But not before he kissed Steve goodbye._

ooOOoo

That had been a couple of hours ago, Steve had made it back to his office in once piece, thankfully. When he got there he just sat in his chair, his hands crossed on top of his desk as he replayed the scene over and over in his head.

He knew he looked even worse for wear than he felt. His hair was probably sticking up in random places, his clothing probably askew or ripped, his lips probably swollen or torn, but he couldn't be bothered to fix his appearance; not right then anyways.

He looked to the picture on his desk again and turned it away, he couldn't bear to see himself like that, not after what he'd done. He took the box out of the bottom drawer and opened it; the ring shone in the light of his office, mocking him with how perfect it looked there. Even after all this time, it was safe, unlike his current relationship. He really had been proud of the purchase, it was nothing too extravagant, a simple band with a design around it. It had a single ruby in the middle and the band itself was made out of gold, he knew those were Tony's two favorite colors so he had searched tirelessly until he found just the right one.

He took the ring out of the safety of its box, fingering the band, and thinking about how he'd never actually gotten to see Tony wear it. He placed it back in the box and closed the damned thing, he didn't return it to the drawer, but rather put it in his jacket pocket. It was time to do something about it once and for all.

Steve walked into the office bathroom and wondered how no one had stopped him on his way back; he'd looked like he'd just been attacked by a bear or a vampire. He had multiple red spots on his neck, his left bicep held a streak of four red lines from the top to his forearm, his lips were beyond bruised…

He started with the most obvious and rolled his shirt sleeve back down, he then combed his hair back with a bit of water. He always kept a spare toothbrush in his office bathroom so he decided to take care of that as well. He washed his face, finally. Not much else he could do about the rest; he at least looked presentable.

As he walked back to his chair a surprise was standing there, making him halt by the door.

"Bucky." It was all Steve could say, what else could he say? That he was sorry? That he was broken? That he'd done it, yet again, and fallen harder still into the pit?

"Hi Steve." Bucky said, he was actually calm for once. He'd come with the intention to reconcile things, but of course, he'd have to come today of all days.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked, he still stood awkwardly by the bathroom door. He didn't dare move closer in case this final bout of infidelity was stronger than his first and Bucky could sense it.

"You tell me. Are _we_ alright?" Bucky asked, modifying Steve's question.

"I don't know." Steve whispered. He was scared to continue, his heart pounded hard in his chest with the prospect of Bucky figuring out what he'd just done. He'd failed his husband yet again, and the worst part, he'd probably do it two more times before the night was through.

"I'm willing to look past this, to forgive the _kiss_ … a-and whatever else, only if you just promise me you'll let me help you again. It is obvious that space was the first solution, we could leave you know, find work somewhere else, somewhere _far_ away. You have credentials and I'm versatile." Bucky said, the beginnings of a smile showing on his face.

"Bucky I-

But of course he couldn't finish, all the karma that he'd accrued over his lifetime cashed itself when Tony walked into his office.

"Oh shit." Tony cursed as he saw who was in the office with Steve.

"Oh shit is right, you… words don't _begin_ to describe how fucking despicable you are." Bucky said, his mood changing as soon as he saw the other brunette.

"Well, that's not the first time someone's ever said that to me." Tony said, nodding his head in agreement.

"You think you're so god dammed _smart_ don't you. You've ruined everything, everything _I built_ after you left!" Bucky exclaimed, his voice rising in decibels the angrier he became.

"Well first, I know I'm smart, and second, I get it—you're angry, can't really blame you really. I'd be angry too if I caught my husband cheating on me with his ex." Tony said. The kicker? This was all his fault, who knew a simple fucking word like ' _yes'_ could destroy absolutely everything?

The fallowing punch was also well deserved.

"Bucky, Jesus. Stop!" Steve said as he tried to restrain Bucky, he didn't realize how angry his husband could get.

Tony lay on the floor massaging his growing bruise. "Yep, I deserved that." He murmured, slowly getting up and trying to gauge the situation.

Bucky turned around roughly in Steve's arms, finally able to get a good look at him. All the little beacons (of what had happened) that showed through his failed attempt to hide them rang loud and clear in Bucky's mind.

"You even _smell_ like him!" Bucky accused, wrestling himself out of Steve's arms. "You know what?" He struggled to pull the ring from his finger, the same one that he'd fought so hard to get, and now to keep, was now finally coming off.

"Wait Bucky, don't." Steve begged, holding Bucky's hands in his own to try and still their actions. He couldn't—he couldn't lose Bucky too.

"Let me go, this is what you wanted right, to see us tear apart." It wasn't quite clear who Bucky was referring to. All things considered, he could have been talking to both since it applied to them equally. Bucky wasn't the one to blame in all of this, for once, he was absolved from any faults or wrongdoings. He blamed himself though, for not trying harder, for not catching on sooner. He knew he'd never been able to compete with the all-consuming atomic bomb that was Tony Stark, but he had _tried_ god-damn it, he had tried to be everything Steve needed. He should have known it was all for naught.

As soon as Steve let him go he removed the band from his finger and let it fall to the floor. He looked at the both of them—hating them both so incessantly much, that it was a wonder he didn't kill them right then and there.

Bucky walked out of the room, not turning back to see if Steve would follow suit; not that it mattered, he had a strong feeling that he wouldn't.

Steve picked up the ring from the floor. It too was a simple band, but that was all, he'd never put as much thought into it as he had into Tony's. Which reminded him…

"What are you doing here Tony?" Steve asked, putting the ring in his pocket. God, how fucked up was this scenario?

"I was… Steve I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Tony said, rubbing his hand down his face. His jaw was fully sore now, and ached with each heartbeat.

"Right, it's our fault though, you never asked me to do anything… _that_ was all on me." Steve said, walking up to Tony and lifting his face.

"He's got a great left-hook, I'll give him that." Tony said, flinching a bit when Steve pressed down on the tender spot.

"Yeah, he does." Steve said, he went over to the mini-fridge to see if he had anything cold. He had a couple of water bottles, some of them frozen; they would have to do. "Here." Steve said pressing the cold object against Tony's face.

"Thanks." Tony said, taking that bottle from Steve's hands. "You're incredibly calm for what just happened." Tony mused, a bit worried for Steve's sanity.

"Am I? I guess it hasn't kicked in yet." Steve said, a sad smile gracing his lips. He walked over to his jacket and picked up the little blue box.

"I was gonna get rid of this today. I don't know why I kept it after all this time, I guess I hoped… that you'd come back." Steve admitted, bringing the object to Tony for closer inspection. The ring in Steve's pocket burned hot like a reminder of what had transpired, the one on his hand felt heavier than the world, but the one in the box shone bright like the sun.

"Steve." Tony breathed as he looked at the band which he had thought he'd never see again. He remembered the first time he was presented the ring, it had taken him by surprised how beautiful and just ' _his'_ it had felt. He'd taken it for granted seeing it there for so many years, it wasn't until it was gone that he realized how badly he missed it.

I guess the saying is true, you never know what you had until it's gone.

"Keep it, it would be such a waste to just throw it away." Steve said, taking the band out of the box and pushing it on Tony's extended finger.

Tony would argue that there were many things you could do with a ring that expensive, but he wasn't about to ruin the moment. "I'll fix this, I promise." Tony said, he had to, it was the only way to make this right.

"Hm." Steve said, he still didn't know what Tony meant by that, but he believed him regardless.

"Now, the reason I'm here is that I need you to look over the company for a bit." Tony said, getting back to business.

"Why?" Steve asked, suspicious of the answer.

"I have to take care of something oversees and I don't trust anyone else with it." Tony admitted, he didn't tell Steve exactly what that business was, but he had to entrust the company with someone regardless.

"You're leaving again." Steve said, his voice incredulous.

"Not like that, never again like that." Tony promised, hoping something in his voice would persuade Steve to believe him.

"Fine, I have nothing better to do anyways. When will you return?" Steve asked, sighing and rubbing his forhead.

"Hopefully in a week, maybe less if I'm lucky." Tony said.

"Okay." Steve said. Content with the answer, he placed a small kiss on Tony's injured cheek, another on his forehead, and the last on his lips.

"I'll see you then, Steve. Hopefully in a better place than you are now." Tony said.

"I love you Tony." Steve said, suddenly. Something had overtaken his mind and he felt the urge to tell him so, as if it was his only chance and he may not be able to say it again. "I never did stop." He continued.

"I know, I love you too." Tony said, he looked back at Steve, looked at the way he just stood there, almost defeated.

Hopefully, the next time he saw him everything would be back to normal.

* * *

Bucky walked angrily to the back of the factory where he had left Sam that night. The other man had promised to stay a little later to cover for both their shifts and he hoped that that had been the case because right now…

"How did it go?" Sam said as he saw the approaching brunette, then regretted it when he was able to get a clearer look of the man.

"Come with me." Bucky said, not looking back to the see if the other man had followed him or not, hoping that his tone alone was enough to convince the other man that he meant serious business.

Sam had to jog to keep up with the brunette, it was obvious that something bad had happened, he didn't know _what_ though, so he would just keep quiet until Bucky could elucidate his confusion.

They entered Bucky's office which had a singular light: a warm lamp in the corner of the room.

Bucky waited for the other man to walk in to close and lock the door, he then pushed him against the frame of the door, kissing him deeply and angrily.

"Bucky what-

Sam tried to say, but Bucky hushed him with his lips and kissed him again. He let his hands wonder up and down Sam's biceps, reveling in how firm and wide they were. Steve was strong but Sam was _built_ …

He'd never been with a black guy before, what with the fact that for most of his adult life he'd been looking after Steve and hoping the blonde would look after him as well. Race didn't even have anything to do with it, it was simply the fact that he'd never had the chance, all those years…

This renewed his anger and he pushed himself deeper into the kiss, almost suffocating Sam with his tongue.

"Bucky, what are you doing?" Sam asked, his eyebrows knit in confusion, when he got a chance to breathe.

"Shh, don't talk." Bucky said, dragging the other man towards the couch and straddling his hips.

Their breath stuttered a bit when their hips collided, Bucky became a bit more energetic then, grinding a bit harder to retain that friction. He wanted so much to forget anything that had to do with Steve, that bastard! He and Tony could rot in hell for all he cared, son-of-a-bitch, ruined their fucking marriage!

"Oh Bucky." Sam said sadly when the brunette stopped the kiss abruptly and began weeping into his shirt. Sam held him tightly, rocking him back and forth as the brunette cried his heart out. "What happened?" Sam asked softly, when most of the sobs subsided, the mood was pretty much dead now, but it really shouldn't have been there in the first place.

"He… he did it, he leapt that last hurdle and _fucked_ him. I hate him so much." Bucky said, his voice thick with emotion as angry tears kept falling down his face and a murderous look overtook his features.

"I'm so sorry." Sam said, he hadn't expected the blonde to be so frivolous with their relationship, what with the way he looked at Bucky that afternoon, he'd expected them to be reconciled in no time!

"I knew this would happen, I knew… that Stark is like a fucking trap, a spider's fucking web, so damn sticky and manipulative, and Steve, so fucking dumb to fall for that again." Bucky said cursing the both of them with all of his being. It took him a couple of seconds to realize just where he was sitting currently. "Oh god, I'm a piece of shit too, Jesus Sam, I'm so sorry." Bucky said, this time a bit more embarrassed than angry.

"Hey, it's okay, you were dealing with some shit, it's fine." Sam said, though it really hadn't been _fine_ , he'd never been kissed like that, if this was any other situation he'd be extremely happy. But Bucky was obviously hurting, and though he'd suffer the fabled blue-balls later on, he couldn't very well ask Bucky to continue, that would be the most disgusting thing he would have ever done in his twenty-five years of being alive.

"No, it's not okay, I didn't mean to use you as a form of rebound, it's just… when I found out, you were the first person I could think of going to. I just… I'm sorry." Bucky said, removing himself from Sam's lap and sitting on the other side of the couch. He leaned back and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and trying his hardest to keep his mind from breaking.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sam asked a couple of minutes later. Bucky looked at him then; the man looked so sincere, his brown eyes filled with nothing but understanding and it made Bucky's heart ache. The brunette brought himself closer to Sam, leaning his head on his shoulder and sighed.

"No, not really." Bucky said, and that's how they stayed for the rest of the night as Bucky spilled some more of his guts to Sam.

And that's how they remained for the next six months, as Sam tried to do the same thing Bucky had done for Steve eight years ago.

* * *

From the moment Loki entrusted Tony with the task to search for his husband he had been filtering nothing but myths through his search engine. JARVIS, as he called him, helped him with the task, he was a virtual butler named after his deceased butler, the man that pretty much raised him when both his parents were absent.

It had taken a couple of hours, but eventually he was able to find something similar to what he was looking for.

It was buried beneath piles of Norse mythology and legends. It stated that there had once been a witch whose home had been war-torn because of the Gods, she became so angry and inconsolable that her first instinct was to punish them. Her power was strong enough to rival that of the same Gods that destroyed her land, but she was still only a mortal. She wanted vengeance however, and the only way she saw fit was to take the main God in charge (Thor) and make him suffer her same mortal fate. She knew, however, that if he died he would eventually return to his original state, so in order to combat that, she placed a curse on him dictating that the instant he died he were to be born again to relive a life over and over without any recollection of the past.

Legend has it that every other generation has a kid who grows up to be almost identical to the man before them.

Tony thought it was a pretty big stretch, but he knew that he had no other choice but to find out if that was true. If he had to start somewhere, why not the birthplace of the God of Thunder?

So he packed a suitcase and fired up his private jet. He needed to end this once and for all, how did he think he could even live a day without Steve? How did he ever believe that he no longer loved him?

Jesus, he was gonna fix it, even if it took him two years.

ooOOoo

Well, it didn't quite take two years, but six months was still quite some time.

"Steve I know, I know. Listen, it shouldn't take more than a couple of days." Tony promised as he got dressed that morning, currently night where Steve was.

"That's what you said two months ago and it's been four since then. What exactly are you doing Tony?" Steve asked a bit more worried than annoyed with him. At least this time Tony hadn't left him all alone like before. He'd called a couple days later when he realized that the trip would take much longer. But this trip was starting to become an extended vacation, and even though being head of the company for a short while felt nice, it wasn't his place and he realized that it was a lot harder to run than Tony had led on.

"It has to do with my research, I'm trying, trying very hard to figure things out. But I'm just one person. Even I have my limitations." Tony admitted. All his leads had been dead ends, he'd been to so many grave-yards, houses, churches, etc., that he was pretty much an explorer now.

"Then let me come help you." Steve insisted, it wasn't the first time he had brought that up, but he wouldn't be surprised if Tony shot him down again.

"Steve… how's Bucky." Tony asked instead, trying to bounce the conversation back into a something he was comfortable discussing.

"Well, I don't think anyone has gone through a divorce without losing a couple of limbs, but I think he's fine now. I spoke to him a couple of days ago, he's still quite bitter, but he's not the type to hold a grudge for very long. I hurt him, though, badly." Steve admitted, the space that once occupied his ring now empty, he had given both of them to Bucky as a parting gift; the brunette had probably sold them already.

"I'm sorry, again, how about you? How are you doing?" Tony asked, sitting down on the bed so he could pay close attention.

"I'm fine, it's still unreal, but… I really didn't know what I was expecting, for him to take me back after what I'd done? Yeah, that's some wishful thinking on my part." Steve said, he didn't mention the fact that maybe he _didn't_ want Bucky back, maybe all of this was for the best.

"I see. Well, I have another long day of research ahead of me. Please, take care of yourself." Tony said.

"So is that a no on bringing me with you?" Steve pushed, he really was growing more curious as time passed of just exactly what Tony was doing.

"No Steve, this is something I have to do on my own. Besides, it's all boring stuff anyways. Just take care of yourself and my company and I'll be back before you know it." Tony promised. The blonde sighed into the receiver but acquiesced. They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.

It was just his luck that he had stumbled upon an older home, one very much reminiscent of a cabin. He stepped inside and marveled at the place, it seemed that many people enjoyed having their homes transformed into libraries.

"Excuse me." Tony asked in the native tongue. He had picked up many phrases here and there, but was nowhere as fluent as he'd like to be.

"How may I help you?" An older man came from the back, drying his hands on a towel.

"First, do you speak English?" Tony asked, he always did just to make sure, and make the conversation pass quicker.

"Yeah, took a couple of years in college, what can I do for you?" The man answered back, Tony sighed and returned to _his_ native tongue, much more comfortable now.

"This may sound strange, but I was investigating this legend, do you know the one about the old Witch's Curse?" Tony asked, pulling out one of the books that he had found along the way.

"Ah, yes, my mother used to tell it to me when I was younger, 'lessons in humility' she would say." The man said, nodding his head.

"Yes, I figured as much." Tony said, having read more on the tale. It had said that Thor had been arrogant, refusing to restore the lands they had fought on. She showed him. "I was wondering though, if there had _actually_ been a person like that. Hear me out, I'm not an overly superstitious person, but I've been looking through some of the records and there always seems to be a man by the same description every other generation. The records have gone dry though, they stopped around 1991." Tony said.

"My boy, it's just a myth." The man reminded Tony.

"Right, but here's the deal, I kinda have to find this individual myth or not." Tony said a bit desperately. "So if there's even a bit of information you could give me concerning something like this, it would be greatly appreciated." Tony finished, looking the man dead in the eye.

"Well, we're really not supposed to talk about it, but a couple of years ago there was a man who moved into the mountains. He lives like a hermit now, no one knows if he's still alive or why he moved in the first place. It's really the only strange thing I can tell you about it; I wouldn't put too much faith in it though, coincidences do happen after all." The man said.

"Well, it's the best thing anyone has said to me in six months so, thanks." Tony said, exiting the shop.

"Before you go, take this with you. I don't know why you reminded me of it, but my great-grandmother once told me to look out for someone like you." The older man said holding up a tooth that hung from a thick necklace.

Tony wasn't about to say no; if Loki was right, then maybe this was the right course of action, and we _are_ meant to be where we're wanted.

Tony left the shop then, getting ready for the trek up the mountain.

It didn't take long for him to secure a small vehicle and ride it up the rocky road. He passed many small villages along the way, stopping by some to see if he was going into the right direction. The more he drove the sparser the houses became. He finally came to the last village along the way where there were less than five houses.

He walked up to the first one and asked them what else he could find if he kept going up the mountain. The older lady instructed him to keep heading north, he should find a singular cabin along a small creek that flowed downstream.

Tony nodded and hopped back into the car.

As he drove further into the mountain, the tooth he had with him started to burn hot against his chest.

"What the hell?" Tony said, stopping the car and taking the necklace off to examine it, it was growing bright as well, almost like a beacon. He thought that this may be a sign that he was doing the correct thing.

"I freaking hope this is it." Tony swore, he'd been down the wrong path before, all empty leads that led back to the start. This was the first time something mystical had happened, he hoped that was a good thing.

He had to drive two more hours up the mountain before he saw the wooden cabin. It felt like a cozy home, but one that wasn't inhabited. He shook his head, no need for pessimism now.

He exited the car, taking the tooth and the two books he had carried with him. One was the myth book and the other Loki's.

The path to the house was one that made his heart beat hard and his ears ring. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting when he knocked on the door.

There was no answer so he tried again, he then tried the lock and found that it was open. He stepped inside, slowly. There was a small candlelight in the corner, illuminating the otherwise dark room. The sun was on the other side of the mountain so the cabin felt quite gloomy. There was an apple on the table half cut which let Tony know that someone at least lived there.

"Who are you?" A gruff voice asked behind him. Tony jumped out of his skin, turning around to meet the man. He was tall and very well build, a long beard covered his face and long blonde hair cascaded down his shoulders. However, Tony was not really paying attention to his features, but rather the gun he had aimed at him.

"Woah buddy, I don't mean any harm. Drop the gun, I'm just here to ask a couple of questions." It's funny how fluent one became when their life was in danger.

"Who are you?" The man asked again, not lowering his weapon.

"I'm Tony Stark, you?" Tony replied quickly, this man meant business.

"I don't… I'm not really called much." The man said, a momentary look of confusion crossing his features as he thought about it.

"Well, you look like someone I'm looking for." Tony said, remembering the description of Thor in both the books. Tall, blonde, muscular, blue eyes, all he had to check was the beauty mark on the left-lower quadrant on his back and we'd have a winner.

"And who would that be?" The man said, lowering the gun.

"A little guy by the name of Thor." Tony said, again, what did he expect to happen? That as soon as he said the name, like a magic spell, the man would remember who or what he was? Well, yes, but it wasn't that simple was it.

"I don't know who that is." The man replied putting the gun back where it had come from.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tony said, a bit disappointed. "I'll just be leaving then." Tony said, as he approached the man the tooth in his hand started to shine brighter and burn a lot hotter, so hot that he had to drop the thing.

"What is that?" The man asked pointing to the object on his floor.

"I thought it was a necklace but-

The man leaned down to touch the object. As soon as he did, the tooth was engulfed in a bright light, soon after the man fell to the floor screaming in pain, his eyes bursting into flames for a couple of seconds.

Tony was rooted in place, his entire body in a state of shock as he witnessed the display. What could he do? He was afraid to touch the man just in case something else would happen (or that something would happen to him, as well).

It didn't take long, but eventually the man collapsed, the tooth now nothing but a piece of charcoal on the floor.

"What the fuck?" Tony cursed, carefully getting on his knees to touch the man. As soon as he did the man's eyes shot open and he looked at Tony with murderous intent.

"Who are you?!" The man asked, wrapping his fingers around Tony's throat.

"I-I told you already, Tony Stark. I'm here looking for Thor." Tony said clawing at the man's hands to let go of his throat.

"Well you've found him! What is it that you want?" Thor asked, he had just been shocked into existence, he needed answers and he needed them now.

"If you could… let go… of my throat, I will tell you." Tony said, quickly losing oxygen to the vital parts of his body.

Thor let Tony drop to the floor with a thud, the man coughed, clutching at his throat as he breathed in the air.

"Now speak." Thor demanded. Somehow they had switched back to English along the way. Tony was thankful for that.

"I'm here on behalf of Loki, he's been looking for you for quite some time and he hasn't been able to find you. I need a favor from him and you were the only way." Tony said, shakily getting back on his feet.

"Loki, oh by the Gods. How long has it been?" Thor asked the brunette.

"I don't know, maybe a thousand years? Probably more?" Tony said, there hadn't been a specific date detailing the legend, he just knew it had been quite some time.

"Do you know where he is?" Thor asked, more like demanded.

"Yes, but you have to do something for me first." Tony said.

"And that is?" Thor asked, skeptically.

"Don't choke me again."

"Conceded." Thor said, slapping Tony's back.

Well, that certainly went better than he had expected. Now, all he had to do was return Thor to Loki and he'd have his Steve back.

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I know,** _ **deus ex machina**_ **, but how else did you think this story was going to end? (It's not done by the way, just one more to go!)**


	10. Time-recalibrating

**Oh boy! Last Chapter!**

* * *

Loki was startled awake that night by the incessant rattling of a box he kept buried beneath many books. He moved all the books from it and realized, with great hope, just what that box held inside. He didn't dare believe it, strange anomalies like these had occurred before. He shook his head; the rattling had stopped anyways.

* * *

The first thing Tony wanted to do as he exited the plane was call Steve. He didn't though, soon enough he'd be in the correct timeline and all of this would be just a bad trip that he'd try incredibly hard to forget.

"This way Thor." Tony said, dragging the God to the black car that had been patiently waiting, for the past six months, to be driven again.

Tony's heart pumped hard in his chest as he drove through the streets of New York, he didn't quite know if the drive had been long or short, he just knew that when he got there it felt like Christmas all over again.

"Thor, wait, before we enter I have to bargain with Loki first. He promised me something if I returned you to him, I just want to make sure he keeps his word. Is that alright?" Tony asked. Even after all he'd seen, he was still quite skeptical of the whole thing. He didn't trust Loki, not for a second, but if all of this ended up being real, well, he'd have to start going to church.

"My husband may be mischievous and sometimes deceitful, but he does keep his word." Thor said.

"I'm holding you to that." Tony promised, as he exited the car.

The brunette walked into the store, Thor in tow. Loki ran into the room, as if he'd spotted a fire, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Thor.

"Now Loki, I kept my side of the deal, now it's your turn-

"Where _were_ you?!" Loki asked, completely ignoring Tony. The brunette stepped out of the way to let Loki deal with his personal problems.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?" Thor replied, looking painfully at his husband, it had been so long he had almost forgotten how he looked like.

"You're gonna have to do a little better than 'I don't know' Thor." Loki warned.

"If it's any consolation, he was cooped up in a mountain in Norway, a witch had put a curse on him so he was mortal, that's probably why he couldn't remember who he was, or who you were. He then touched this tooth that gave him his magic powers back and now we're here." Tony said as quickly as he could.

"Is that true?" Loki asked, his blue eyes turning into green the more he looked at Thor.

"Well, from what has transpired, son of Stark is quite correct." Thor said, confirming Tony's story.

"After three months I thought you'd given up your search, you hadn't shown for quite some time and the last person who tried gave up after that so." Loki said, turning his emerald eyes to Tony. They were incredibly enchanting, drowning Tony in their vast depths. "Sorry, let me dial it back a couple of notches." Loki apologized, returning them to their original blue. They were still beautiful, but not quite as intense.

"Jesus Christ man, you gotta watch it with the mind tricks." Tony said, blinking rapidly. "Now, we had a deal. I return yours and you return mine." Tony continued, looking expectantly at Loki. "And all the others for that matter." Tony said, with some bright insight.

" _What_? I'm not doing that, I said only yours-

"I succeeded where others have failed, and I've learned my lesson, I think it's time for them to go back home too." Tony bargained.

Loki took a second to think about it, so many people: Stark, Barnes, Williams, Anderson, Johnson, Thomas, Archer, Adams, so many names! But…"I suppose you have learned a lesson, but not quite. You're going to have to rectify this yourself." Loki said, fully facing the billionaire.

"What do you mean, I thought I just did?" Tony said, pointing to Thor.

"I'm sending you back, to the moment where you made your decision to leave Steve. Once you're there you still have the option to leave him _or_ continue the way it was always intended." Loki said.

"Why can't you just return me to the proper timeline?" Tony asked, it was always something else wasn't it?

"And pretend as if nothing ever happened? Please, that's not the way I operate. I'm giving you a choice here, just like I did before. Take it or leave it." Loki said. Loki was also omitting the fact that he had to fix _every other timeline_ in this space of time, so it would work better this way.

Tony nodded slowly, "And after that, am I going to have to live those seven years again?" Tony asked. Not that that bothered him, seven years to re-explore his relationship would be incredible, but he also didn't want to take the chance of having those stupid thoughts come haunting him again.

"No, of course not. Once that's done, I'll pull you back. Be thankful Stark, you're the first human in existence who has managed to make me change my mind." Loki said.

"I wish I could say I was happy, but until this is fixed I'm just holding you accountable." Tony said.

"You had to learn a lesson, I was there to teach it. I think I did a good job. Now, once you quit your rambling we can continue." Loki said, a bit impatient.

"Okay. I'm ready." Tony said.

As he said those words he was blinked out of existence for a second and then transported into another.

"… so what do you say? Will you marry me?" Steve asked, they were stood in the living room after their romantic candle-lit dinner, it was a bit cliché, sure _,_ but proposals always were.

"Oh Steve. Always." Tony said, trying to calm the tears that had fallen from his eyes. He was back! In a blink of an eye he had returned to this fatal moment where he'd fucked everything up. He would never commit a similar mistake again, he was in love with Steve Rogers and nothing would ever change that, ever, ever, ever.

"Hey, if there ever comes a day where I even question our marriage, or-or our love, or our life together, please slap me, okay?" Tony begged Steve.

"Okay?" Steve said a bit confused, but elated nonetheless. He stood up to meet the brunette in a kiss, pushing the ring on his finger, and though technically this was the first time it happened, Tony hoped that it would also be the last time.

"Alright, that's enough." Loki said as he brought Tony back.

"Jesus, the whiplash… hey, it was just starting to get good." Tony complained as he held his head from the pain. The bookstore had now returned to its original disgruntled mess. Thor and Loki stood together by the desk and stared at Tony, expectantly.

"So what happens now?" Tony asked the trickster.

"Well, I've returned you to the exact same moment before you said yes, what happens now is up to you. I take it you have um, twenty-seven missed calls." Loki guessed.

Tony looked at his phone and noticed that that was the case.

"And what about the other timelines?" Tony asked, just now remembering Bucky and also the countless others who had made a deal with the God.

"Like they never happened." Loki promised.

"I take it you want me to never see you again." Tony said, looking at Loki with a knowing glance.

"Now why would I ask that? It was a lot of fun, plus, you've done the impossible. Visit me at any time. I can't guarantee I'll be there, but you're welcome to try and find me." Loki said. A smile, that held no malice or mischief, graced his face.

"Well, that is probably the second most surprising thing that's happened to me all day." Tony said, then shook his head.

"Go now Stark, I think you have someone to apologize to." Loki said, effectively shooing Tony from his home.

"Try not to cause any earthquakes or snow-storms while I fix this, okay?" Tony asked, catching both Gods by surprise and reddening their cheeks in the process.

ooOOoo

When Tony came home he knew immediately that Steve wasn't there. He tried to look at that as a good thing, since it gave him enough time to prepare an apology.

By the time that the deadbolt turned and Steve entered their apartment, Tony's well thought out apology self-combusted and he was left blank and mouth agape.

"Tony, Jesus, Tony where were you?" Steve asked rushing to Tony's side but not embracing him like he'd normally do. The brunette obviously had had some things on his mind and Steve wasn't quite sure if he'd resolved them, or if he was about to receive terrible news.

"Steve, I… I had an awful nightmare; you and I were never married and I hurt you, hurt you so much that you never wanted to hear or see me again. I honestly can't tell you what overcame me for a while, to think that I could ever live without you, that I could ever _not_ love you. How could I have been so stupid? Steve, I _love_ you. Please don't ever make me forget that." Tony said, baring both his heart and soul on the table for Steve to do as he pleased.

"You told me once to slap you if something like this ever happened, I'm not going to, but can I kiss you instead?" Steve asked, tenderly.

"Of course, always." Tony said, looking up into those blue eyes before he closed his own to absorb the kiss.

* * *

Epilogue _: Two Weeks Later_

Tony had reminded Steve of his best friend after they had settled again. He'd explained his nightmare in detail to Steve and that gave the blonde a chance to think about things.

He had been extremely hurt when Bucky had refused to be his best-man at the wedding. It was the one thing missing on the otherwise perfect night. He never knew, never knew what it had all been about, why Bucky loathed Tony with all of his being, but eventually he figured (with a little help) that it was because Bucky had loved him, _way_ more deeply and intensely than Steve could have ever loved him back.

So now here they were, two weeks later on Bucky's doorstep. With a little detective work on Tony's part, they were able to locate Bucky's place of residence, he had flown to Canada and now lived there with a successful career. No mention of a spouse or children, but Steve hadn't asked Tony to investigate so he really didn't know for sure.

"Are you sure this is the correct address?" Steve whispered, chickening out at the last second.

"Come on Steve, don't be a wuss, I'm sure." Tony reassured him, pushing him forward.

"Maybe we shouldn't… maybe it's best if we leave him be." Steve said, bucking again.

"Come on, you're the one who dragged me into this, it's too late to back out now." Tony reminded.

"You're right, okay." Steve said taking a deep breath. He knocked on the door, his heart beating fast and his adrenaline pumping. "Maybe he's not hom-

But a couple of seconds later the deadbolt turned and his best-friend stood behind the door.

"Steve?" Bucky breathed, his eyes narrowing as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "Tony?" Two people he never thought he'd see again.

"Hi Buck." Steve said, not sure if he should smile, wave, shake his hand, etc.

"What are you guys doing here?" It wasn't an accusation, just simply a question.

"We, uh, we-

"Last time we were together we ended in bad terms, I know it's a bit overdue to fix anything, but hey, better late than never right?" Tony said, helping his husband with the words he couldn't say.

"Uh, yeah I guess. Co-come inside, jeez I didn't expect anyone today. Sam and I were going to go to the movies or something, but now I'm gonna have to introduce you two, I guess." Bucky said, shaking his head.

"Sam?" Steve mouthed to Tony.

"I have no idea who that is." Tony said back, standing close to Steve. The apartment was nice and homey, a lot smaller than his own, but that was to be expected, not everyone could live like he did.

"Wait here, I'll go get him." Bucky said, doing some random things with his hands before he left the two in the living room.

"Well that answers that question." Tony said. Looking around the place for any other clues about Bucky.

"Shh. Stop being so nosy." Steve said, still whispering.

"Uh, Sam Wilson, my boyfriend. Sam, this is Steve Rogers and his husband, Tony Stark." Bucky introduced them to each other as he returned with the other man.

"Oh, so you're the famous Steve. Dude, I thought you were taller." Sam said, shaking his hand. "And you, Mr. Stark, it's nice to see such a tech-legend in person." he continued, shaking Tony's hand.

"Oh stop it, flattery will get you anywhere." Tony said, feigning embarrassment.

ooOOoo

"I see you've done well for yourself." Steve said a couple of hours later as they all sat around the living room, Tony and Sam occupied in tech-talk while Steve and Bucky caught up.

"Yeah well, I'm versatile." Bucky said, reminding Steve of the fact. "I really should have called or sent a message or something. It wasn't really your fault for marrying the one you loved." Bucky said, finally apologizing after all these years.

"It's fine Buck, I never realized how you felt then; it wasn't until Tony made it clear to me that I figured it out." Steve said.

"Still, I was kinda' jaded for quite some time. I took it out on you and I just hope it's not too late to say sorry." Bucky said.

"You're my best friend man, my brother really. You were always there for me and I'll never forget that. Of course it's never too late to say sorry." Steve said, sincerely.

"Hug?" Bucky asked, stretching his arms.

"Oh, why not." Steve said, giving him a much needed hug.

"Ah, that's what I wanted to see. It's about time too." Tony said, clapping his hands together. "How about we take you guys to dinner, eh?" Tony offered, standing up excited to see everything had turned out fine in the end.

"We wouldn't want to take advantage…" Bucky said.

"Ah come on. My treat." Tony said.

"Well, if Mr. Stark is offering, how can we refuse such a great gift?" Sam said. "I'm getting ready, Bucky, you can stay here if you like." Sam said, raising his eyebrows, knowing damn well that his boyfriend wasn't about to stay behind if it meant staying by himself.

"I'll go get ready too." Bucky said. Rolling his eyes.

"Excellent! We'll be waiting downstairs in the black car, can't miss it." Tony said. He would have gladly remained upstairs, but he wanted to talk to Steve in private.

"How do you feel?" Tony asked as they got comfortable in the car.

"Better, much better. I didn't realize that was a weight I needed to lift off my shoulders until it was no longer there. I guess I'd gotten used to it." Steve said, taking one of Tony's hands and putting a small kiss on it. "Thank you."

"Anything for you my dear." Tony said. "But seriously, I'm glad that everything has worked out in the end." Tony continued, shooting a little thanks to the green God.

"I love you." Steve said, leaning into kiss Tony.

"And I'll never stop." Tony said. Separating as he saw the other two men approaching the car.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Tony asked. The unanimous approval spurred his motivation and he turned on the engine and drove.

They would be fine.

We are meant to be where we're wanted, right, and they all had found their way there; one way or another.

* * *

 **A/N: So, how was it? I know it's the end but, I don't know, I'd still like to get an opinion. Is there anything you would have done differently?**

 **Thanks so much, by the way, to all that have favorited and reviewed so far, no matter how many times I say it, it still rings true, it totally means the world to me. I hope you have a wonderful day!**


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